Downed
by DemonoftheRoundTable
Summary: Team RWBY's Bullhead is taken down. Their location unknown, Yang must bring her injured team somewhere safe where they can wait for a rescue. Will help arrive soon? Or will the horrors of the location they were downed in lead them to their graves?
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to _Downed._**

**This is a small series that I'm doing. In it, we see our Team RWBY get taken down over god knows where. Yang is the only one conscious and coherent, so she has to be the one to save her team. From what, you may ask?**

**Everything.**

**This story will have two, maybe three more chapters coming. I'm skeptical about this opening, but know that over the next few chapters everything will fall into place. **

**Without further delay, here's _Downed,_ A RWBY mini-series! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Heat.

That's all Yang felt. Everything around her was hot. It was tough to breath. She rose, slowly and sluggishly, and only had a few seconds to look around her before the she started to remember.

"_We've just lost our left engine!" _

_ "What's going on?"_

_ "Losing thrust, altitude dropping! We're going in hard!"_

_ "Right engine is burning now! Shut down the lines to the fuel cell!"_

_ "Brace yourselves!"_

They crashed. She didn't know where they were, nor did she care. She needed to figure out where her team was and get the hell out of here.

But damn was it smokey in there.

She went to the left side of the Bullhead's hull and kicked the door open. A rush of air hit her, almost with enough force to knock her down. Natural light was also let in, illuminating the downed aircraft's hull more than the fire did.

Yang looked around, and saw her sister, Ruby, by the door to the cockpit, unconscious. She rushed over and slung the younger girl over her shoulders. Next she found her partner, Blake. Replicating what she did with her sister, Yang slung Blake over the opposite shoulder.

Yang looked around, trying desperately to find the last of their team: Weiss. Near the back of the aircraft, sprawled on the ground, she found the heiress.

Yang knew she didn't have long before this thing blew them to high hell, and she couldn't carry three...

"Or could I?" Yang asked herself aloud. Quickly, she set Ruby and Blake down and began to rearrange them. Throwing Ruby onto Yang's back, Yang maneuvered the smaller girl to fit nice and snug, allowing her to throw her teammates on her shoulders.

"Damn am I good? Too bad no one is awake to see this." Yang told herself.

With her team in tow, she fled from the craft. She didn't realize, however, that the Bullhead and crashed precariously on a cliff. Vines from trees had kept it from falling. After she jumped out, however, the vines gave way and the Bullhead plummeted to the earth below.

It was a very hard drop, for all.

Yang hit the ground running, but the added weight made her stumble. The crashing aircraft behind her, which erupted into flames, shortly after, didn't help.

Yang looked around. Her surroundings were very... Swamp like... The water was ankle high, if that. The trees were large, the branches spaced out. She looked to the cliff that they had crashed into and examined the entirety of it. There was nothing, just a rocky surface.

Yang sighed, but moved along. She had to find something that they could use as cover, even temporarily. She wanted to examine her team for any injuries they might have sustained.

After a moment of searching, she found a large hollowed out tree. She quickly rushed towards it. After entering, she set her teammates down, one by one. All leaning against the wall, Yang began to do a quick once over of her teammates. First, Blake. The faunus clearly had just bumped her head, as no outside injuries said otherwise.

Weiss was next. The heiress had a gash on her arm, which her aura was currently taking care of. Yang sighed, relief flooding her. The way Weiss was when Yang found her on the craft led her to believe the injury was much worse.

Finally, Yang moved to her sister. Ruby didn't appear to have any injuries on her front. When Yang attempted to move Ruby to examine her back, she got quite the surprise. Ruby began to stir in her sisters arms, rubbing her head and moaning in pain. "Ah... Wha... What hap-"

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed! "Holy shit!" She wrapped herself around her younger sister, giving her one of the tightest bear hugs the young one ever had.

"YANG!" Ruby choked out.

"Oh! Crap, sorry."

"It's ok, really. Nice to see you too." Ruby sighed, "Now... What happened? Where are we? And... why does my head hurt?"

"Ok, sis." Yang said slowly, understanding Ruby may be concussed, "Listen carefully." Ruby nodded, "The bullhead we were in? We crashed. I don't remember how, something went wrong, but we're down. You banged you head on something, clearly. I'm checking you out to make sure you're ok?"

"Don't worry about me! Check-"

"I've already done it, sis." Yang assured, "I'll know more when they wake up. Now how are you feeling? Anything else hurt?"

"Uh, well... Aside from my head?" Ruby asked, "My leg hurts a bit... I think my left arm is numb, too. Yang, where are we?"

"Beats the hell out of me, Ruby." Yang began to examine her sister, taking her left arm. It wasn't completely void of all color, but it _was_ pale. "How does that feel?" Yang moved her thumb around the outside of Ruby's hand.

"I can feel it... barely. Ow!" She grabbed her shoulder, clutching it so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Woah! Ok, hold on. It may be... Got it! Well Ruby, you have a dislocated shoulder." Yang said.

"Damnit, not again." This wasn't the first time it's happened. Ruby's taken her speed a little too far over the years, and every now and again will crash. She's dislocated her shoulder once or twice, maybe three other times. Taiyang taught the two how to relocate a shoulder easily. 'A few years of being a hunter and a teacher and you learn a few things', he used to say.

"One sec, ok?" Yang put both of her hands on Ruby's shoulder, to which the younger girl almost cried out in pain. Ruby began to bite on her hood, knowing of the pain that was about to come. In a moment, it happened.

The sickening sound.

Ruby's hood did nothing, as she shouted in pain anyway. Gripping her left shoulder, she curled up. Yang quickly threw her hands over her sister's mouth, silencing the screams. "Shhh," She soothed, "It's over now. Can you feel your arm?" Ruby nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek, "Good. That's good. You'll be ok."

After a few moments, Yang broke off the embrace, checking to see if anyone, or anything, heard what just happened. "Ruby!" Yang called, "I'm going to go out and... explore. I'm going to go see if I can find a more permanent resting place, ok?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, slowly, "Sounds good." She pulled out Crescent Rose and readied it, just in case. She nodded to Yang, who departed.

Yang got a better feel for her surroundings. They were definitely in a swamp, no doubt about it. The smell, the environment in general. The one thing that irked her, however, was the lack of any wildlife. There was nothing, not even Grimm. It struck her as odd, but she shrugged it off, continuing her search.

She wasn't sure what she was going to find, let alone what she was looking for, specifically. The tree was nice, just... Damp. Everything was.

She didn't know how long she had been gone; though she knew it wasnt too long. She made sure to double take every now and again to make sure she knew where she was. Last thing Yang wanted was to lose herself in this swamp with her injured teammates to fend for themselves. After a moment of searching the cliff face, Yang saw something.

A hole.

Not just any hole, a cave. She rushed to it, further examining the inside of it, it was pretty massive. She readied Ember Celica and fired a round in, watching go. It was a test to make sure the cave was clear, and to see just how far it went in. Luckily, it didn't go too far in, and hit nothing but rock wall.

"Yes!" Yang cheered, "Awesome! We can make this our home until rescue gets here." She turned and ran back to the hollow oak tree she left her team in. It was pretty easy to spot, considering all of the trees looked the same. She burst through the tree line, and found herself on the wrong end of Crescent Rose. "R-Ruby..." Yang stuttered, "Wha-"

"Oh geez!" Ruby blushed, lowering her weapon, "Sorry! I didn't know it was you! I just heard a lot of rustling and-" Yang stopped her sister from getting too flustered, rubbing her head.

"It's ok, I understand. I was just a bit shocked to look down the barrel of your gun is all." Yang assured, "Hey, I found a cave not far from here, we can make it our home until help arrives."

"Great!" Ruby said, "Hey... Speaking of help, did you ever get a chance to call Beacon? Do they even know...?"

Yang shrugged, "I never got a chance to get into contact with them. I was too worried about you all. When we get into the cave I'll call them." Ruby nodded. "I'll pick these two sleeping wonders up and carry them over. Think you can keep me covered?"

Ruby cocked and locked her weapon, "Lead the way!" Though, she did have a hard time standing. Trying, and failing, to hide it from Yang didn't work, either. "I'm fine, don't worry." She assured. Though she knew she wasn't entirely fine, she couldn't let Yang worry about her. Their teammates were hurt more than she was, they had to take priority.

Yang led the way, Ruby close behind. The young leader had stumbled a few times out of Yang's view, but managed to keep up. Yang had to make a few stops along the way. Carrying half of her team was tiring work. She noticed that Ruby was taking in short, tired breaths. It worried Yang, as they hadn't been moving for too long.

She nudged Ruby, "Hey, you ok?"

Ruby nodded, "Yeah, I think so." She assured, "I'm just a little woozy is all. I think I breathed in too much smoke at the Bullhead."

Yang accepted this, but stayed weary. Ruby didn't have too much pride, rather she didn't enjoy being a burden. Nevertheless, they moved on. "It's not too far," Yang said, "Just a couple more kilometers." She never heard Ruby respond. Turning back, she saw her sister slumped against a tree. "Ah, damnit!"

Rushing to Ruby's side, Yang set down her teammates against the same tree Ruby was against. "Ruby? Ruby! Come on! Wake up!"

"I- wha-? Oh! Hey, Yang." She said, drowsily, "Sorry, I do- I don't think I can-"

"Stop. Stay with me, ok? Try and stay awake. I'm going to take Blake and Weiss to the cave and come back to pick you up, ok? Just stay awake." She made herself very clear and spoke sternly, but Ruby could only nod incoherently. "Ok, just hold tight. I'll be back in a minute." With that, Yang left, dashing through the swamp with her teammates on her shoulders.

Leaving Ruby alone.

Her world was spinning and she was fading in and out of consciousness. Gripping Crescent Rose, she tried to stand from her position and walk, to follow her sister, who left with her teammates. Her legs, however, failed, leaving her behind.

'Why did she...? Oh, yeah... That's right...' Ruby thought slowly. She didn't know exactly what was happening, nor where she was. All she knew was that she couldn't walk, let alone stay awake. 'Maybe I should shut my eyes, just for a minute. I'll wake up good as... No, wait... Ah Yang wants me to stay awake. She'd hurt me if I went to sleep now...'

"What happened here?" Ruby wondered out loud, "Where are we?" She tried to think, to _remember_ how they got here...

But before she could even think, she heard a noise. A splash. It jolted her awake. She turned to the swamp and saw the reverberation in the water from where the splash happened.

Heart racing, she forced herself on to her feet, and walked back slowly, her weapon still in hand. She kept an eye out, peering to the swamp. 'Where are you, Yang?'

Forcing herself to focus was hard. Ruby's vision was getting blurry with each passing moment. She wondered if the splash was just her mind playing tricks on her. She didn't want to find out. Ruby turned to the direction Yang went and tried to follow, but tripped over a root, which made her head hurt worse.

Then she heard it...

The sickening sound,

The hungry roar,

Ruby turned, and stared down the face of an old swamp dweller...

"Crokolisk..." She turned onto her back and fired at the beast, a Crokolisk was a Grimm version of a Crocodile, almost twice as long and wide, Black body with red streaks running throughout it's back. It's teeth were red as blood, and the mask it wore was white as bone. The skin itself was tough to penetrate with traditional bullets, but for Crescent Rose's high caliber, it was easy... After five or six bullets at least.

Ruby kept shooting, the beast before her now reeling from the impact of the rounds, but staying the course. After a moment, all hope seemed lost; Ruby was out of ammo and the beast was charging.

But then, a fiery blast from out of nowhere hit the crok square in the face.

Ruby turned to see a very pissed of Yang Xiao Long, eyes as red as Ruby's cloak, jump onto the Crokolisk's back. "How dare you!" She yelled as she pounded the Grimm into dust, "You think you can take _my_ sister as your lunch?!" She grabbed the top of the crok's mouth, keeping her foot on the bottom jaw, and ripped the beast's head clean off. "I think not!"

After a moment, Yang calmed down and turned her attention to her sister, who was currently trying to tell if what just transpired happened or not. "Ruby Garnet Rose, you just can't seem to stay out of trouble, can you?"

"What can I say?" Ruby smiled, tiredly, "trouble tends to follow me."

Yang ran over, trying to help her sister up, but it was tough for Ruby to stand. It was clear that she had a concussion. Instead of leaving the younger girl to walk, Yang decided to lift her sister on her back. "The cave isn't far and I don't think you can walk on your own." She said, "Just get comfy up there." Ruby, again, nodded incoherently, and stashed away Crescent Rose.

It wasn't long before they reached the cave. Yang set Ruby down against the wall, next to Blake and Weiss, who were still out cold side by side of each other while laying on the ground. Ruby, still bouncing in and out of consciousness, looked to her sister and squinted her eyes.

"Yang?" Ruby asked, "Why is it so dark outside? It was day a minute ago?"

Yang shook her head, "We're in a cave sis, remember?" Ruby thought for a moment before rubbing her head, "Actually, don't remember. Sit here and watch them." She pointed to their still slumbering teammates, "I'm going to make a call to Beacon; see if we can get some help out here." Ruby nodded and began to watch Blake and Weiss, still clearly drowsy.

"Great," Yang mumbled to herself, pulling out her scroll, "I get two teammates who can't wake up and a team lead who's concussed. God can this get any worse?" She began to press a few keys, each one under the 'emergency' function of the scroll. After a few taps, password entries and verification codes, Yang finally made it to the Distress Beacon and pressed it. An alert popped up, informing her that the beacon was active.

She waited for a sign, anything, really. Someone to call and tell her that they had her signal. But, there was nothing. Just an empty notification that their transponder had been activated.

Yang sighed, slightly bummed. She was hoping to have someone call, or at least shoot a message, telling her help was on the way. "Rubes!" She called, "I think we're going to be staying here a while!"

"Yay!" Ruby cheered, no optimism in her voice at all.

"Yeah," Yang mumbled, "I know that feeling, sis." She looked up to the sky, and saw that it was getting darker. It struck Yang as odd, since it was still very much day time. Then, it hit her, "Storms... Great." She stood up, "Ruby! I'm going to go out and tear some trees apart, try to find something to keep us warm, ok? I won't be out too far. Yell for me if anything happens."

Ruby gave a thumbs up and continued to watch over her team. Yang headed out, trying to beat mother nature. A race against the clock would be an understatement, as Yang could hear the rumble of thunder overhead. This storm was moving fast, and was probably the reason no one could respond. No one _wanted_ to respond, because with the storm overhead, it would just give the team a false hope of help arriving soon, or endanger a rescue team if they wanted to attempt a pickup.

Yang , again, sighed as she tore apart an oak tree. The one good thing was that she could let loose some pent up aggression. The Oak tree fell and split apart, creating big enough chunks to be used as fire wood. There was a lot too, but she didn't have an issue making a few trips.

She picked up a large bundle and dashed for the cave, realizing that it would start raining anytime now. Running in and dropping it all off, she nodded to Ruby, who returned it without saying a word. This happened two more times before the rain began. But Yang was happy with what she brought in. It was enough to last a while.

After arranging some wood around her team, she used some of her semblance to light the campfire, and sat back. Finally, after what felt like hours, she had a chance to rest.

She sat next to Ruby against the wall, who slouched over. Yang put her arm around her sister, welcoming her to a warm embrace. "Yang?" Ruby called, quietly.

"Hm?"

"What happened...?"

"I... I don't... We lost an engine, I know that much... But I don't know how." Yang replied, honestly, "You tried to ask the pilots what was up, they couldn't tell us. Then we crashed."

"Man, what a story," Ruby said drowsily, "Good ni-"

"No, no no no no no no, you can't sleep young lady." Yang said, shaking Ruby, "You can't sleep with a concussion."

"I'm not concussed, I'm just-"

"You hit your head in the bullhead."

"No, I hit my shoulder in the bullhead."

"What's two times three, then?"

Ruby looked up to her sister quizzically, "What?"

"What. Is. Two. Times. Three?" Yang replied slowly, "If you don't have a concussion then you can do simple math. So, what's two times three?"

"Six." Ruby replied easily.

"Five times three?"

"Fifteen."

"Ten times ten?"

"One hundred. Yang, I don't have a concussion."

Yang held up her index and middle finger, "How many fingers am I-?"

"Two?"

"Now?" She held up her thumb, index, and middle finger.

"Three?"

"No-"

"Yang!"

"Ok, fine!" Yang gave in, "But I'm still under the impression that you are, sis. You could barely stand out there, and aside for that little test you showed all of the signs."

"Yang," Ruby looked up to her sister, "I get it, trust me I do. But my aura has helped out and my headache is gone. I can see a little better now. Plus my aura shielded me from any damage to my head. Why do think it was my shoulder that was messed up?" Yang thought about it for a moment, "I'm fine, trust me. I'm just tired is all."

Yang sat back, then, with her free arm, took Ruby's cape and covered the girl in it. "Fine, but I'm not letting you go easy. I'll check up on you every now and again." She gave in. It was a dangerous game she was playing, but if Ruby _did_ feel better, then she should be fine. Ruby flipped up her hood and fell asleep in her sisters embrace.

Once again, Yang sighed. She looked at the fire, then outside of the cave, watching the storm rage on. Her head fell back onto the rock wall behind her, "Well, shit. Doesn't this just suck?"

* * *

**Well doesn't that just suck?**

**So Ruby doesn't have a concussion anymore! Yay! Though she is tired as shit. I'm not going to go in depth with why she's so tired (in the story, at least), so I'm going to explain it here: Her use of Aura to protect her from any serious injury, and her use of Aura to bring down the concussion a bit, is why she's so tired. It's left her exhausted. So don't worry, she doesn't have a chance at dying because she's sleeping with a concussion. **

**By the way... If you or a friend has a concussion or you think they do, do not let them or yourself go to sleep. Ever. Get to a hospital immediately. You are putting yourself in danger. You don't have Aura to help you, remember that. **

**Anyway, with that little tidbit out of the way: This is a little side project for me. Just something to do to pass the time and get through some writers block of my main story. I don't imagine this to be a huge success. I actually don't think I did very well with the opening. Something was missing and I don't know what it is. Bah, I'll figure it out.**

**Enough about that, tell me what you think! Did I do good? Did I suck? Tell me what you think?**

**Also, though this may not seem like it now, this is my practice at relationships. No smut... Ever. Rather I will try to involve ships somewhere in the next two chapters. It might ruin the story, it might enhance it. I don't know. But damnit I'm willing to try. **

**Thanks for reading.**

**Until Next Time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**HOLY SHIT THIS CHAPTER! WHO'S READY TO SEE A PISSED OFF YANG XIAO LONG?! **

**You're in luck, then! In this chapter the remaining members of Team RWBY wake up. Some have... a little bit more of a hard time waking than others. **

**Before we get started, I want to say thank you for giving this story a shot! This is just a side project for me, as I said last time, giving me an extra outlet for creativity. Amnesia is still in the works, and so is Cataclysm. I have some reviews that I want to address, but I'll leave that for the end.**

**For now, Enjoy!**

* * *

Yang checked her scroll, something that had become common practice over the last twenty minutes. She was hoping for anyone to pick up her distress beacon. She knew there wouldn't be a notification when she checked, but it was either this, or checking on her slumbering team.

Yang finally figured out, after three or four times of checking, that Ruby would be fine. Her concussion was taken care of by her Aura, which must have left her physically exhausted. This allowed the eldest sibling to breathe easy.

After going over the same routine, checking Ruby, glancing at Weiss and Blake, checking the fire, and lastly her scroll, Yang decided, "I need to move around."

She got up slowly, maneuvering her sister so that she wouldn't wake up, and began to stretch and walk. She made it to the mouth of the cave, and realized what luck she and her team had. Regardless of making it out of the bullhead, they were all relatively ok, and in shelter. She also realized how lucky she was to have found this cave before the rain came. "Probably just raining malaria out there," She thought out loud, "Better in here than out there."

Directly after she finished her sentence, a large clap of thunder boomed overhead, causing Yang to flinch. "Damnit!" The thunder being accompanied by a bright flash of lightning didn't help. "Yeah, way better in here." She said, flipping off the clouds above.

Walking back towards the fire, Yang noticed something...

Blake's hands were twitching.

Not only that, but her eyes clinched tightly shut. "Blake?" Yang called, quietly.

After a moment, there was no response. Yang was about to take a seat next to the fire, when her Faunus partner jerked upwards suddenly, eyes wide open.

Sitting upright, Yang noticed that Blake was breathing heavily, as if she had been running. "Holy shit," Yang greeted, "Welcome back."

"Hey..." Blake said wearily, "Whe- Where did I go?" Yang put both of her hands together and rested them on the side of her face; the ever universal sign of 'sleep'. "Oh. I see. Where are we?"

"A cave in a mountain in the middle of nowhere, next to a swamp infested with Crokolisks." Yang explained easily, "We crashed here, though I can't remember entirely what happened; all I know is that we crashed here and you all were unconscious, forcing me to take action."

Blake looked at her quizzically, "Why do you think your alive right now?" Yang replied to her unspoken question cryptically, with a smile. Blake shrugged it off and sat back, examining her surroundings. "So what woke you up?"

"A giant 'boom'." Blake replied, peering to the sleeping heiress and team leader. "What's their stories?"

"Weiss was knocked out with you and Ruby had a concussion for a little while, but her Aura cleared that up, leaving her exhausted. I'm just letting her sleep this one off for the time being."

Blake nodded and rolled her neck out. "Well, this is interesting." She commented, "Yesterday we were helping a small town clear out some Grimm and now where here. Do we even have a rescue on the way?"

Yang shrugged, "The transponder's up, but no response from anyone. Every channel is silent."

Blake cringed at her words. "Damn," She muttered, "Then we might be her a while?"

"Probably."

"Great, I don't even have anything to read."

Yang laughed, feeling a little sorry for the faunus. "Hey, I know!" She exclaimed, "Ruby's scroll is still in good condition, and she had a ton of books on there!"

Blake was a bit stunned, then realized who Yang was talking about. Their leader was as heavy of a reader as Blake was, and it didn't surprise her one bit that she had such a collection as her Blonde partner described. Blake watched as Yang rummaged around her sister's many pouches, trying to figure out which one had her scroll. It was funny to watch.

"Come on, damnit! Where do you put it?"

"Put what?" A voice called. Yang jumped back a little, realizing the voice came from Ruby. The aforementioned girl sat up and rubbed her eyes, then stared at Yang. "You're not very subtle when you do that, you know? If you wanted to find something on me, you should have just woke me up." She deadpanned, "Now, what do you want?"

"Blake wanted to take a look at your scroll, so she could read some of your books on it."

Ruby blushed, then turned to her faunus teammate and waved, "Yeah, ok sure. Let me ju- Wait... How did you know-?"

"Oh please, you think I actually pay attention to Port? Whenever you pull out that scroll during class I watch you go right to the 'Stories' tab, sis. I know you have them."

"Ok, ok, I'm not denying it... But let me just do a few things first."

"Oh!" Yang shouted, "Something on there that you don't want us to see?"

"Yes." Ruby deadpanned again, "Some stories I'd like to keep hidden is all."

"Aw come on, Rubes! You can-"

"Yang, stop!" Blake almost shouted, "Leave her alone. We all have something in our own personal collection that we'd like to keep private. Ruby has a story she doesn't want us to see, Weiss has a diary..." That comment struck the sisters, but didn't question how Blake knew it.

"You have your... Jour-"

"RUBY!" Yang shouted, wrapping her sister in a headlock,

"It's not like we don't all know, Yang." Blake said, chuckling, "You don't do a very good job of hiding your... _ahem_, 'Journals'." Yang immediately blushed heavily. Blake and Ruby started to crack up. Yang sighed, and accepted her fate.

"It's ok, I guess. You have my journals and I have your favorite little book, Miss Kitty." Blake, immediately grew wide eyes, was taken aback, mouthing 'How?'. "I like to invade personal privacy every now and again. It's amazing what you can find."

Ruby nodded. "It's true. You can't keep anything from her."

Blake nodded, and accepted her fate now. On a plus side, anything Yang had on her, she had on Yang, twice over. It was an even fight. "So, Ruby," Blake called, "Those stories?"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry." Ruby pulled open her scroll, tapped a few keys, opened the 'stories' tab and tossed it over to Blake. "Enjoy!" Blake nodded in thanks, and began going through the scroll. Ruby was _really_ thorough with what she wanted unseen and what she didn't mind being seen. Quite a few stories were pass code locked.

Rather than trying to break through the codes, Blake decided to run through the unlocked stories. Most of them were fantasy, which Blake preferred anyway. She sat against the wall, losing herself in the false reality.

Yang and Ruby sat and watched Blake for a moment. Then returned to the fire. The two staying silent for so long had bothered both of them, but what could they say? What was there for them _to_ say?

Yang quickly got an idea. Tapping on Ruby's shoulder, she gestured to the young leader that she wanted to have a word, more in private, near the mouth of the cave. That way, the rain would drown out their voices. This conversation definitely would be better in private.

"What's up?" Ruby asked once they got to the mouth of the cave.

"How are you feeling?"

Ruby sighed, "Cut the shit, Yang. You wouldn't bring me over here just ask how I was feeling."

Yang's turn to sigh, "Ok, you got me. How much do you all know? About the... Journals?"

"Oh," Ruby said quietly, "We... Uh, we know enough. I'll leave it at that. I've known since Signal, but they've known for about three months."

"Three months?!" Yang shouted, "No wonder nothing I said fazed any of you! You all... You." She stared at Ruby, with a mild anger in her voice, "You showed them, didn't you?"

"What?!" Ruby shouted back, "How dare you! Just because I know doesn't mean I'd proclaim your dirty laundry to the entire team! I didn't tell them! ... But I was in the room when they found it..." Ruby tried to step away, knowing that she should not have said that.

Yang grabbed Ruby by her shoulders and lifted her off the ground, "That doesn't help your case, you know that, right?" She deadpanned, keeping Ruby at eye level. Ruby nodded, "Good. Now-"

"You wanna talk about me showing them your journal? How about you throwing me under the bus back there with that story bit?" Ruby argued, "You didn't even care for what I felt! You were going to let Blake go through my scroll without even talking to me!"

"It's not like you have something in there that Blake hasn't read before, sis, trust me."

Ruby deflated in her sisters arms, "It's not that. I just have an image to keep up with you guys is all."

Yang, realizing her mistake, pulled Ruby into a hug. A flash of lightning flared outside, causing the two to jump. After the thunder eventually rolled past, the two began laughing. "Hey," Yang said, "I'm sorry. You're right. That journal doesn't really matter anyway, and I didn't really get to ask you if you wanted Blake reading those."

"No, no!" Ruby admonished, "It's ok! When they found your journal I should have taken it from them. Instead I kinda egged them on, convinced them it was ok. I shouldn't have done that."

The two shared an embrace for a long moment. It was quite the spectacle to behold. Blake was intently watching and listening from afar, more than ready to jump in incase Yang got too aggressive, even though Blake knew that they wouldn't hurt each other. Instead, Blake chose to listen.

It was strange to her, why they decided to have this discussion so far away. Private, though as that may have been, they were still very loud. besides that, Blake could hear them easily despite the rain. She wondered what the stories Ruby had in her scroll where that the young leader didn't want Blake to read... Or others for that matter. But the faunus quickly shoved those thoughts out of her mind. 'Everyone has a guilty pleasure.' She mentally reminded herself, 'It's also her privacy... Damnit... Now I have to apologize for the journal.'

The two began walking back, having made up. Blake was impressed; she's seen discrepancies like this that have torn people apart. Each day these sisters impress Blake. The two sat down next to each other around the fire. Laughing, though not saying a word otherwise.

Blake continued to 'read', though her attention was kept towards her teammates. After a moment, she closed the scroll and cleared her throat. "Ruby." She called, tossing the scroll to her leader, "Thanks."

"Your very welcome!" Ruby exclaimed, pocketing her scroll. She turned to her sister, making a gesture, "I'm watching you." Yang just held up her hands defensively. Ruby turned her attention to Blake, who was eyeing the two curiously. "What's up?"

"Oh?" Blake responded, off guard, "Um... Yang, I want to apologize. We never should have gone through your-"

"Stop." Yang demanded. "We've all been through each other's belongings. It's no big deal." She assured. "Let's just drop it and make fun of Weiss for her diary." The others giggled at the prospect. It wasn't everyday they could rip on the ever so loud heiress.

Yang sighed, leaning back. She had been checking her scroll, still finding no messages. It aggravated her beyond reasonable doubt. Still, there was nothing they could do.

Yang laid back, tucking her intertwined hands behind her head, using them as a makeshift pillow, and fell asleep to the chattering of her sister and her partner. It was the first time all day where she could truly rest.

In only a moment, she drifted into a light slumber.

* * *

_"We've just lost our left engine!" The Pilot exclaimed._

_ The co-pilot was furiously yelling into the microphone: "Mayday! Mayday! This is Heavy two-four! We've been hit by an unidentified object! I repeat!"_

_ "Pilot! What's going on?" Ruby yelled. _

_ "Left engine is gone! We're going in hard! Brace for impact!"_

_ "This is Heavy Two-Four, attempting emergency landing near the Waldrike_ **(A/N: Pronounced Vall Drake)**_ Mountains! Mayday! Mayday!"_

_ "Cut the lines to the fuel cells or we'll never make it to the ground!" The lead pilot ordered. _

_ The last thing Yang heard was her sisters order, "Everyone, Brace for Impact!"_

* * *

With a boom from outside, Yang awoke in a jolt. Her breathing was heavy, like she was out of breath. She looked to her right and saw Ruby and Blake, both sitting against the wall, looking at Yang with worry.

"Yang?" Ruby asked in a low, curious voice, "Are you-?"

"Yeah." Yang said, standing up, "Yeah I am. I'm going to go make a quick message. I think I know where we're at!" Before she left, she took a glance and Weiss, "Wake her up too, will ya? Her sleeping for so long is starting to make me nervous." Blake and Ruby complied, moving to the heiress. They began contemplating with each other how to wake her, while Yang went to the mouth of the cave.

The rain was beginning to lighten up, leaving Yang in high spirits. 'If the storm is leaving, maybe we can get some good reception, finally!' She thought.

'This is our chance.' She began furiously typing into her scroll, finally finding the emergency callback to Beacon. She hit a few keys, then began to record a message:

"This is Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY, hailing anyone! We have crashed in a swamp near the Waldrike Mountains, and have taken shelter in a cave. All team members are accounted for, save the pilots, who are dead. This is the only scroll transmitting this message. If anyone can receive this, please respond." She finished her recording and hit 'send', then a 'repeat' key. This automatically made it so that the scroll would transmit the message without assistance. Yang left the scroll at the mouth of the cave, and put the volume on its highest setting.

'If anything, Blake can hear it.' She assured herself. She also made a mental note to try and visit the teams downed craft. Maybe there was something there that could help.

Not a moment after setting her scroll down, Yang heard the ever so distinct sound of Ruby's Leadership Whistle, then, a thunderous smack, followed by a gasp in pain. Turning, she saw Weiss sitting up, right arm across her body, Ruby on the ground, holding the left side of her face, and Blake over the younger.

Yang didn't need to be told what just happened, and she was _pissed._

There are levels of mad with Yang: Aggravated, Angry, Mad, Enraged, and finally, Pissed off. It was rare for her to be past Mad, let alone Angry. With everything that has happened today, this was the stone that set off the rockslide.

This is what pushed her to the pissed off stage.

She ran into the cave, eyes already blood red, "What just happened?!" She demanded, kneeling next to Ruby, across from Blake. She looked to Weiss after examining her leader.

"Your sister-!" Weiss emphasized with anger, "- Just used the her "_Whistle of Leadership"_ or whatever it is to wake me up! I told her to stop with that shit!"

"We tried everything else!" Blake defended, "It was this or-"

Weiss blushed furiously, "REGARDLESS! Who gives you the right to wake me up! Let alone-"

"ENOUGH!" Yang erupted in a full fury, fire and all. "You have been asleep for the entire day! I saved _your_ ass! Hell, I saved _ALL OF YOUR ASSES! _Finally I catch a break with this damn storm, too, and I come back to you-!" She pointed to Weiss, "Smacking my baby sister across the face for waking you up, _WHEN WE MIGHT NEED YOU IN A GOD DAMNED MINUTE?! WHO THE HELL IS STOPPING ME FROM RIPPING YOU APART?!"_

Yang's fire was bright and hot enough to vaporize even the darkest of matter. The rest of her team was beyond scared. Ruby had seen this side of Yang, once and only once, and it was right after someone made fun of Summer after her death.

Let's just say that poor soul isn't around anymore.

Ruby stood up, hands in front of her, "Ok, Yang," She said, timidly, "Let's just calm down, here, ok? Please?" She almost pleaded, "I'm ok. Really. And Weiss was in the right to defend herself, anyway. Yes her methods were extreme, yes you have a right to be pissed, but _I'm the one who got hit_. If anything, _I_ should be the one kicking Weiss' ass right now."

"Hey!" Weiss retorted in an offended tone. Blake nudged her to be quiet, shushing her.

"Please, Yang. Let's let cooler heads prevail here. For me?" Ruby took Yang's fists, trying to unclench them herself. Yang took her death stare off of Weiss and onto Ruby, who met her gaze. When Yang saw the fear in her sisters eyes, she knew she messed up.

"Oh, god..." Was all she said, before Ruby nearly tackled her with a hug, "I- I-!"

"Don't." Ruby deadpanned. "Just, don't."

They kept the embrace for almost five whole minutes. Weiss and Blake were both stunned at what they just witnessed. If Ruby wasn't going to be a huntress then she could damn well be a negotiator.

It was an impressive sight.

After a few moments, the two broke the embrace, nodded to each other, and turned. Yang keeping her eyes on Weiss, who froze with fear.

"Stand up." Yang ordered, standing over the heiress.

"Wha-"

"Stand. Up."

Weiss rose, very fearful that her demise may be imminent. "Whatever deity there may be, please don't let Winter take over the family after me." She prayed. Yang took Weiss by the collar and lifted her off of the ground.

"If I _ever_, even hear about you striking my sister again, regardless of the context, I _will tear. You. Apart._ Then I'll mail your dismembered limbs to your family as a warning. Am. I. Understood?"

Weiss nodded, and gave Yang a pleading look. "Good." Yang dropped Weiss and went back to throw more wood into the fire, as the flame was getting quite low (whether it be from Yang taking all of the oxygen with her fire, or the wood losing its kindling).

"So... Uh-" Weiss stuttered, "Does anyone want to explain where we are?"

Yang sighed, throwing a few pieces of wood into the flame, letting it set. "Sit down, Weiss, I have quite the story. Ruby, Blake, you too." Yang ordered, "You need to hear this as much as her."

* * *

**Well... That was interesting now, wasn't it? **

**Yeah, don't fuck with Yang... or Ruby while Yang's in earshot. **

**Now, onto some reviews:**

**From a guest who wanted no shipping: Sorry, friend, but this will be some practice for me. If it's any consolation, it won't even be considered light shipping. Hell, it might not even be considered shipping, ever. Some people have really high standards for ships.**

**From anotamous: Good catch! Here's the deal: _Someone_ was going to get concussed. It was inevitable. Originally it was going to be Weiss, then I thought: Wait, the leader is the one who would checking to see what was up, right? it's what leaders do, make sure everything is safe for her team. Poor Ruby just happened to fit the leadership role and stood in the doorway to the cockpit. Now her concussion is gone, thanks to her Aura. **

**Hell, I'll be honest, I'm not sure if Aura can work with a concussion. Ah, screw it. It does here. **

**Also, about Cataclysm: For the longest time now, I've been on the verge of just starting over from scratch in 3rd person. I've decided not to. Instead, I'm going to leave it up for a month after I've finished it, redo the story and at the end of the month, trash the original and post the 3rd person story. Unless people tell me to fuck off and not do that, then I'll leave it up and post the 3rd person story.**

**Finally, I figured out what was missing. So let me explain: So: The swamp is in a valley _bellow_ the mountains. They crashed low on the mountains, which is why it was so easy to get to the ground for Yang. The cave is also at ground level with the swamp. **

**Just to clear up any confusion.**

**So, not that those are out of the way, how was it? Dialogue heavy. That's how I role. Next chapter, the rain will clear completely and the team will examine the wreckage. Fun!**

**Until then, I hoped you enjoyed: I have a couple of busy days ahead of me so a chapter might not show up until Friday, or the weekend. By the weekend I hope to have every story of mine with at least one update! So be ready!**

**Until Next Time. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, this should have been posted yesterday, but some matters came up and I couldn't bring myself to do much of anything. Regardless, this is the first of a wave of chapters, Amnesia is coming up by nights end Hell or high water, with Cataclysmic coming tomorrow or Tuesday (personal matters ****permitting).**

**On that, I give you the second to last chapter of Downed! Enjoy.**

**Edit: Made a change after someone pointed out an error. Thanks FiercesomestDefenestrator (hope I got that name right) for pointing it out!**

* * *

"And so that's what happened." Yang said, finally finishing her explanation to everyone. She had said what happened to Ruby and Blake, but didn't go in depth. Here, she went all in, explaining every minor detail. She emphasized one thing, though:

The Crokolisks.

The Crocodile Grimm that had almost taken Ruby for a snack infested the swamp. They were more dangerous than Ursa were, mainly for their massive size. Their jaws alone had well over _3000 pounds of pressure_ behind their bites. Human bones would be powder under that kind of force.

These creatures were dangerous and they all knew it. Yet, they were very rare, too. Only in humid, swampy regions, would you find these hell spawns.

"Ok," Ruby said, clapping her hands, "I make a proposal!" The others began to look at her intently, "We need to go to the crash site and see what we can salvage, if anything. Maybe, if we're lucky, something could be intact."

"I don't know, Ruby," Weiss said, "After crashing, bursting into flames, falling towards the earth then getting rained on... I'm not sure what there could be for use to salvage?"

"You never know." Blake said, "It's an idea. It's either that or we wait here for a rescue that may not be coming for a few days. We may be able to find some rations there."

The prospect of food peaked Yang's interests. It had been since breakfast, almost ten hours ago, since she, or the rest of the team even, have eaten. "We're going." She deadpanned.

"Alright, then it's decided." Ruby declared, "We're going to examine the crash." With that, everyone began to rise, until the heard a cry of pain. The team turned to a certain white-clad heiress, holding her stomach in pain."Wow, she must really be hungry."

"No, you dunce! I'm not hungry! I'm far from it!" Weiss shouted, wincing with every word. Blake began to look over Weiss' stomach, and found heavy bruising.

"Yang?" Blake called, "You said we were on your shoulder when you jumped, right?"

"Yeah? Why? What happened?"

"Well... It looks like Weiss suffered an injury for it. I don't know the extent, but there's some bruising," She poked the heiress' abdomen and was gifted a pained cry, "And some pain to go along with it..." After she took her hand away from Weiss' belly, Blake whispered into her ear, "That was for Ruby." Blake backed away just in time to see the glare given by Weiss.

"You... I'll deal with you later. And you!" She pointed to Yang, who raised an eyebrow. Weiss had to be very careful with this. Not only was Yang still clearly pissed, but she was also the girl to save the entire teams lives. "I- Uhg." Weiss gave up, figuring no argument.

"Well, damn." Ruby muttered under her breathe, "We can't just leave her here, she can't move too much... How the hell are we going to do this?" She kept her fingers under her chin, trying to figure out the teams next move. "Ok, I got it."

"To protect Weiss' overall safety and make it easier for use to find the crash site, Yang will be out. Weiss, clearly, will be staying. Blake, I leave you a choice. Do you want to go with Yang or stay with Weiss?"

Blake thought about it, then turned to her leader, "Think you could help her?" She pointed to Weiss. Ruby deflated and shook her head, rather embarrassed at the fact that she simply didn't know what to do. "Then I'll stay here. No big deal. You go with Yang and bring back what you can. If you need help then we can trade spots." Ruby nodded and turned to Yang.

"Lead the way!" Yang nodded, picking up her scroll before leaving. "Stay safe you two!" Ruby called.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Yang winked, then left, Ruby following closely. Leaving Blake and Weiss to a very awkward silence.

"So..." Weiss said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah." Blake replied. "Damnit." She muttered, "I forgot to have Ruby leave me her scroll." Weiss looked at Blake quizzically, "Oh, right, you weren't awake for that. She has a number of stories saved onto her scroll. I read some earlier. I was going to now, too. Was, anyway."

Weiss nodded, laying back. "How long you think they're going to be? Ruby and Yang?"

Blake sat back against the wall and thought for a moment, "Probably ten, twenty minutes. Maybe thirty. Probably thirty."

"Yeah, thirty sounds about right." Weiss agreed. "It's going to be a long thirty minutes." She sighed.

Ruby followed Yang's almost feeble attempt at backtracking. They hadn't even found the hollowed out tree from earlier, let alone the Bullhead. "Yang," Ruby sighed, "We're-"

"Nope!" The eldest sister declared, "Not yet! Nope nope nope nope nope!"

Ruby sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hand, then continued to follow Yang. Although she herself wasn't sure why she was still doing that at this point. It was clear that they had no clue where they were at.

"It was this way! For sure! This was where we killed that first Crok asshole. Which means..." She thought, "The tree has to be this way!"

"Hey, it's a miracle! She has a _thought_ of where she's going!"

"Hey," Yang shot back in mock pain, "What gave you such an attitude?"

"I- It's nothing." Ruby waved her off, "Forget it." Yang was about to press on, but instead chose to save it for a later time. Their downed craft was more important than someone's attitude.

After a moment of running, Yang stopped and looked around, Ruby close behind. "What? Do you see it?"

"No..." Yang said quietly, "No but it should be right here! Right here!" She pointed at the ground beneath her.

"Are you-?

"Yes! I'm sure, Ruby." Yang's head was spinning so fast, Ruby began to fear that she would get whiplash. "I don't understand... How-"

"Yang!" Ruby called, "Is that it over there?" She pointed in the distance to a large oak tree with a gaping maw at the base of the trunk. Yang wrapped her sister up in a massive bear hug.

"Good eyes, sis! Let's go!" She carried Ruby all the way to the tree, despite the younger's protests. When they finally arrived, Yang put Ruby down, who kept a stern glare on the former. "Oh, you look so cute when you try to be mad!" Ruby opened her mouth for a retort, but gave up and sighed. "Ok!" Yang clapped her hands, "If the tree is here, then the Bullhead should be..." She began walking, "Right... Over... Here!" She pointed towards the distance, noticing burned tree's and a scorched landscape.

Yang began to rush the crash site, Ruby still following closely with Crescent Rose ready. Climbing over the massive branches and vines, the duo found what remained of their downed craft.

The wings had been torn off, engines appeared to have been melted by the immense heat. The fuselage of the craft had been leaning against another massive tree, though had been torn apart; the tail was shattered, the body had cracks and missing parts, while the cockpit seemed to be in moderate condition.

The sisters looked at each other, worriedly. "It's gonna be tricky getting in there, Yang." Ruby commented.

"Yeah, I know. You wanna cut the tree down? Maybe make the Bullhead a bit more evened out?" Ruby thought about this idea for a moment. The one issue seemed to be whether or not they wanted to risk further damage. If anything was bumped even slightly in any direction, it could have very negative repercussions.

"It's a risk..."

"One we have to take, Ruby. We're not going to be able to walk in that ship, it's on almost a ninety degree angle." Yang stated blandly. Ruby knew she was right. Extending Crescent Rose to its full scythe form, she began to move toward the giant tree. Yang, too, readied her weapons. They both walked to one side of the tree, nodded to each other, then began to fire into the tree.

After a few shots, it fell over, taking the bullhead with it. Both hit the ground with a massive thud. The sisters smiled at each other, then began to examine the downed craft. Walking in, the smell of smoke still permeated the air. Yang turned to the hull, while Ruby turned to the cockpit, letting out a gasp.

Yang turned to see Ruby, hand over her mouth and against the wall, sliding down. "What's up?" She asked tentatively. Ruby shook her head and pointed inside, indicating it was something in the cockpit. Yang nodded and went to see what caused such a reaction. It didn't take her more than a second to get why:

There charred corpses of the pilots sat there, wet from the rain. Yang took a deep breath, walked out, knelt down next to Ruby and rubbed her sisters head. "It's ok, they... It'll be ok..." It was tough for the older to find words. How can you say _'They're dead, don't worry about it.'_ without sounding like an ass? Yang decided not to pursue it, leaving her statement as is. "Take a moment. I'll take the cockpit, you keep us covered in case any Crok's show up, ok?" Ruby nodded, and pulled out Crescent Rose.

While Ruby took the door, Yang went back into the cockpit. She was hoping for something to still be working, preferably a radio. Looking around the panel, she weaved through the corpses of the pilots, which was very uncomfortable. She started hitting random buttons, hoping for any kind of response. Alas, nothing.

As hope was beginning to dwindle, a small light caught Yang's eyes. It flashed once, making her think it was her imagination. Then, it flashed again, then again and again. Yang fixated on that light, moving to a terminal on the co-pilots side. She tried to read through the smoke damage, and only made out a few words: 'EME NC RAD O'

"Emergency Radio! Ruby, I found it!" Yang declared.

"That's great, Yang, but we have an issue!" Ruby called back, distress in her voice. Before Yang could react, a number of shots rang out. Yang bolted outside, only to see Crokolisk's beginning to surround them. "Yang, take whatever you found, and let's go!"

Yang nodded and charged back in. She looked at the radio, praying it was portable. Her luck held out as she lifted it, detaching it from the terminal completely. She looked to the side and saw a battery life, which read seventy two percent. "Close enough." Yang mumbled. "I got it, Ruby! Let's get the hell out of here!"

Ruby nodded and charged out, Crescent Rose at full extension. The younger carved a path of death in front of her, leaving Yang a window to move. Yang bolted, following her sister. It wasn't long before they found the hollow tree, where they took a moment to regroup.

"How did they find us?" Ruby asked, slightly out of breath.

"I'm not sure. But we can't get held up by it. I have what we needed, and thank the light it's still safe. This is what I was hoping we'd find! Let's get back to Blake and Weiss before those things catch up."

With that the sisters left, running at full speed back to the cave.

They could not get there fast enough.

* * *

The time Blake and Weiss has been spending had been mostly quiet. The two sat against the wall mostly, the only one to move was Blake when the fire got too weak. Weiss' injury wasn't getting worse, but it wasn't getting better either. Blake wasn't sure what caused the bruising and why Weiss hadn't healed it. Unless she couldn't?

Maybe she didn't want to?

"Hey." Blake called.

"Yes?"

"Why haven't you healed yourself, yet?"

Weiss lifted her head, stared at Blake, opened her mouth, then closed it. Whatever her response was, she knew it was going to be a lie at first, so Weiss decided to, instead, tell the truth. "I- I probably hurt Ruby, didn't I?"

Blake was taken aback. She didn't know if Weiss was trying to change the subject, or what? "What do you- Oh..." It finally hit her. Weiss was referring to when she slapped Ruby. "No, no I don't think so, Weiss. She didn't show any signs of being hurt when I checked on her. I think Yang was more emotional over it than Ruby was for sure."

Weiss nodded slowly. "But, I mean, we know Ruby doesn't really like to show it... You know?" Blake nodded, "Do... do you think I actually hurt her?" Weiss voice was sincere, she actually cared for Ruby.

"Weiss," Blake laughed, "I'm going to be honest with you. With everything you say to her, all of the names and such, a little slap like that won't do much to hurt her."

Weiss nodded, wincing when Blake mentioned the name calling. She had to admit, she did do it far too much to the others.

"Besides, she told me herself that nothing you do or say really effects her anymore." Blake deadpanned, "She's become so desensitized to your crap."

Weiss' head whipped around to meet Blake's gaze, "Wha- Bu-... How? I- I'm... Speechless."

"I noticed."

"Wait? When did she tell you this?"

"Oh, I think it was about a month ago, something like that. She admitted after the first half semester she really started to not care, unless what you said was really hurtful."

Weiss leaned back, not really sure how she should feel right now. In a way, she could abuse this fact, but that might be taking things too far. "So... Did Ruby tell you anything else?"

Blake blushed mildly, trying to hide it, to no avail. "Uh, nope. Nothing."

"You sure?" Weiss asked slyly. Blake knew she royally messed up. "It doesn't seem like it was nothing."

"No, no. It was nothing. Trust me." Blake tried to recover, all she had to do was...

"Guys!" A call from outside. It sounded like Yang, from quite the distance away. Blake got up to go see what the commotion was. "We got it!" Blake saw both Ruby and Yang running at full speed toward the cave.

Ruby stopped by doing a front flip and a roll, eventually sliding inside the cave. Yang did a baseball style slide and stopped on a dime.

"Ok, welcome back." Blake said, smile on her face. "Now, what did you get?"

"We got an emergency radio, and I think it's still in working order!" Yang almost screamed with excitement as Blake helped her up. "I'm going to give it a shot and see what happens. Wish me luck!"

As she started to work, Blake walked over to Ruby, who had a glazed look in her eyes. "Hey, you ok?"

"Blake," She said, her voice quiet and meek, "We have Grimm. Big Grimm. I think they might have followed us. Yang thinks we lost them... I don't know..."

The two heard another voice join in on their conversation, "Whoa, hold on, back up. What?"

Ruby turned to face Weiss, "I think we may have lead some Crokolisks here... I'm not sure, but..."

"But we can't be too sure. Those things will tear us apart if we let our guard down." Blake said, realizing why Ruby was acting the way she was.

"Right, Weiss, your still hurt, right?" Weiss nodded to her leader, "Ok, stay with Yang and protect that radio at all times. Blake, stay with me. We're going to keep watch outside for anything and everything, ok?" Blake nodded and ran outside with her teammate. Weiss went to Yang, telling her what was going on.

"Alright, so you're my cover, eh? That's good, at least here I can watch you." Yang said, smile on her face.

"Yang, look, I feel really bad about that. I overreacted and-"

"Did you apologize to Ruby?" Yang asked sternly. Weiss shook her head, solemnly. "When you do, then I can truly forgive you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get into contact with Beacon."

Weiss nodded and kept a mild distance, giving Yang room to work. Eventually Yang got the radio on, and started making the call.

"Hello? Is anybody there? This is Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY; We have crashed in the swamplands near the Waldrike Mountains and are seeking emergency help. Mayday, SoS, whatever, someone, respond!"

It took a few minutes, mostly static filled the airwaves. Yang was about to make another go at it, until a voice was heard.

_"Xi- Long, Co- N. Do you read? Yang Xiao Long, come in!" _

"Yes, yes! I'm here, hello?"

_"There you are. We've been looking everywhere for you. Miss Xiao Long, this is Professor Goodwitch, can you give me a status report?"_

"Yes. All members of Team RWBY are accounted for. The pilots... Dead. We have one wounded, and are in a Crokolisk infested swamp."

_"Pardon me... did you just say, Crokolisk infested?"_

"Yes."

"_Miss Xiao Long, we have a rescue on the way. Estimated arrival will be in one hour. Can you hold out until then?"_

"We've been able to hold out without issue until now. I don't see why not." Yang said with an honest smile.

_"Very good. We'll be there soon. Stay safe._" With that, Professor Goodwitch's voice cut out. Yang turned to Weiss and smiled. Weiss heard everything and returned the smile back.

"We're going to make it, Weiss."

"Yeah..." Weiss said, almost choking up, "We are... Aren't we?"

"Guys!" Yang called to Blake and Ruby, "Rescue's coming! One hour!" There was no response from her teammates. Yang looked around, trying to find where they went to. "Weiss, you see them?"

Before Weiss could answer, a shot rang out and a scream was heard. Yang turned to the source, then to Weiss. Weiss gave a nod and Yang was off. She found Blake and Ruby fending off massive Crok's. The beast's came out of nowhere, the water, the tree line... It was endless.

"Oh, shit."

* * *

**Oh shit. Well, that took a turn for the desperate. **

**I feel as though I could have written this chapter better... I don't know. Something was missing and it was probably me not being in the right mindset. Regardless, it's up and I'll have it finished this week. **

**Not really much to say, though someone did ask about the Scroll's battery life: Sorry I'm not going to look for your name, but you know who you are. I have no clue about Scroll battery life, I'd assume they'd have a pretty damn long life, if it's for hunters and whatnot. **

**Also, everyone got a kick out of Weiss nearly being charred. I like that. That wasn't even supposed to be in the story, but I threw it in last second and I like that you all enjoyed it. **

**On that note, I'm going to cut this off. Thanks for reading. One chapter to go! **

**Until Next Time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome back!**

**So, there is more to this chapter, I'll be the first to say it. I'm throwing some finishing touches on it now. I had made this one big super chapter, but was informed that, unfortunately, 8000+ words is way too much for one chapter. So, as a result, I cut it down into two parts. **

**Now, I must apologize. This took way too long to bring out, regardless of what anyone says. End of school led to an increase at work and it was tough for me to figure out a way to schedule in everything, but now, after a month or two, I have found a way to properly schedule my work, writing and, albeit nonexistent, social life. **

**Anyway, now that all of that is out of the way, I can finally say that I'm proud to bring you the fourth chapter of Downed!**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Yang shot out, striking a Crok head on. The massive beast bounced back, hit a tree, but still got up and began moving back towards the team.

Ruby was trying to cut down as many as she could without wasting ammo. She knew she was already low enough as is; shooting these things wouldn't help. She'd have to use them in an emergency.

Blake was close by to her leader, providing as much support as possible. Using her shadows, Blake was able to bounce in and around these beasts, cutting them up quickly and accurately. However, their iron-like skin makes dealing any kind of damage very difficult. Bullets and shells seemed to bounce off of them, while cutting them down was difficult and dangerous.

Something the girls noticed was that as the Crok's got close, they stood on their back legs, giving themselves a huge size advantage. This, however, did leave them exposed, as their bellies weren't armored. But they could still take a couple of hits. Crok's were very well built.

Yang made a shot, punching one that dared stand in its gut. It recoiled for a moment, but then turned an angry eye towards the brawler. Before it could lunge at Yang, a gust of wind could be felt. Before Yang realized it, her younger sister had come to the rescue, utilizing her speed semblance to decapitate the beast. Ruby did a flip before landing next to Yang. The sisters silently nodded then went back in.

Blake had been using the trees to give herself a boost. Using her cat-like reflexes, she prowled above the Crok's that were still on their feet. Those were her targets. She jumped down, quickly slashing and stabbing whatever she could.

She weakened them greatly, but they wouldn't die yet.

Choosing that she didn't care about her ammo anymore, Blake pumped a few rounds into each beast. Five fell. But others still emerged from the swamp.

"Ruby! Yang!" Blake called, "There's too many! We have to fall back!"

"To where?!" Yang responded, "To the cave? We'll be cornered there!"

"Well we can't fight here," Ruby defended Blake, "Weiss would be a great deal of help too!" She took a breath, "Ok! We're going back to the cave!"

They all ran back to the cave. Ruby using Crescent Rose to cut down a many trees as possible, blocking the Crok's for a moment. It was still better than nothing.

Once they got back to the cave, the trio took a moment to catch their breaths. Weiss, who had stayed back in the cave per Yang's request, was confused. "What happened out there?" She asked, "Was it-?"

"Croks!" Ruby almost yelled, trying to steady her breathing, "So many! Like... Wow was that a lot of Croks!"

"I only wish you were joking..." Weiss spoke meekly, "How many is a lot?"

"Enough to give us trouble." Yang said blankly. "Listen up! Ruby gave us some time by taking those trees down but we don't have much longer here! We can either move to another area or stand and fight."

All three looked at each other, pondering their options. Up until Weiss decided to speak, "Ok, allow me to be the voice of reason here. Ahem, we have few supplies, probably low an ammo, we're backed into a cave and our ride out of here is just over forty-five minutes away. Running may not seem like a good idea, but it gives us the best chance for survival. If we stay here then once we run out of ammo we're dead."

Ruby and Blake looked at Weiss, then each other, then to Yang. Ruby stood up, "I... I think Weiss is right here. We can go out, find another place that won't leave us backed into a corner and fight there. Any amount of time we can burn until the evac comes is a plus. I say we book it."

Blake sighed, "I hate to admit it, but running for now sounds good."

Yang nodded and clapped her hands together, "So it's settled?" Everyone nodded, "Good. Let's get going." Picking up the radio, Yang was the first to step out of the cave. She didn't even take more than two steps before stopping and sighing. The rest of the team joined her outside and gasped.

The Crokolisks had climbed above and moved around the trees Ruby had taken down. The young leader's shoulder slumped, "Man. Can't catch a break today."

"No." Blake said, drawing Gambol Shroud, "No we cannot."

"Nobody said it'd be easy." Weiss commented, turning Myrtenaster toward the Grimm.

"Well, if we're gonna go down, I'd say let's give 'em hell!" Yang cried, her gauntlets activating. She dropped the radio behind her and took a stance, "Let's go!"

The entire team joined her in a brutal war cry, charging in.

* * *

"Hey... Pyrrha?"

"Yes, Jaune?"

"Wasn't Team RWBY supposed to be home, like, an hour ago from their mission?"

"They probably got caught up in some weather or something." Pyrrha said.

"Maybe their flight got cancelled?" Nora inquired, "You can never trust airlines these days."

"I don't think it works like that, Nora." Ren stated, not even looking up from his book. "Beacon would provide the transportation to and from."

Jaune looked out from his team's dorm room. Team RWBY had been sent on a mission in the southern territories to assist a dig site. Said dig site was run by the Schnee Dust Company and was running into some problems with Grimm running around the area. Ozpin recommended a third or fourth year team or two, but Weiss' father insisted it would be his daughter's team. They performed perfectly, keeping Grimm at bay until the SDC was able to build a proper wall around the site.

The mission wasn't set to last more than two days. Even if they got held over for some reason, one of the members of RWBY would tell someone in JNPR.

That's why Jaune was worried.

Still, he knew lack of communication between teams is part of the job and passed it off as an emergency or something. Or maybe they did get caught in some weather.

He sighed, closing the door. Looking into his teams' dorm, Jaune announced, "Ok... Anyone have any suggestions on what to do next?"

"OH!" Nora cried, "I know! We can go raid Team RWBY's room again!"

"Nora," Pyrrha chastised, "We already set up some pranks in there. If we open the door it'll blow up in our face..."

"Literally!" Jaune added.

Nora became slightly flustered and sat back down, "Oh yeah... I forgot." Just as she sat, her stomach rumbled, catching both hers and Ren's attention. "Oh! I got it, now! Let's go get dinner!"

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a glance; Pyrrha smirked while Jaune sighed. "Alright, I guess we can go get some food." The leader gave in, earning a loud cheer from the hammer wielder.

The team departed from their dorm. It had been a long day for them, and there wasn't really much to do (not that they really put much thought into it). Dinner would definitely give them a chance to recharge a bit and figure out something to do.

Entering the cafeteria, they were almost instantly greeted by team CFVY, who had entered moments before them. "Hey there!" Coco called, "How's it going?"

"Slow day." Pyrrha responded as her team went for dinner. "If it wasn't for Nora we'd still be in our dorm doing nothing." She and the rest of team CFVY followed the rest of JNPR's lead and went up for their food. "Hey, since I've got you all, have any of you seen team RWBY? I'm not sure if they got back from their last mission..."

Velvet turned to her questioningly, "Oh? They never got back?"

"Ah!" Coco waved them both off, "They probably got caught up in Ozpin's web of after-action reports, debriefing and mission review." She composed herself, picking up a tray and filling it with food, "I'm sure they're fine."

"Yeah," Pyrrha sighed, continuing her quest for dinner, "You're probably right."

"Of course I'm right! Now come on, let's go eat!"

Both teams nodded in agreement and took their seats. The teams chatted amongst each other, topics varying from different points, depending on who you listened in on. Pyrrha, Jaune and Velvet held a conversation on their school work; Ren and Nora mindlessly babbled (Nora did most of the babbling, Ren corrected her) while Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi all listened. Well, Fox and Yatsuhashi jumped in and out of the conversation, while holding their own at times.

Every now and again, though, Jaune would break temporarily and glance towards the cafeteria entrance, hoping to see RWBY walk through the doors. Alas, though, nothing. His hopes were dashed whenever he saw another team enter or leave when the door opened. Coco noticed this and sighed.

"Ya know, they're not gonna walk in just because you keep looking at the door."

Jaune looked to her, "I know. Thing is, they were supposed to be back hours ago. Even if they had paperwork to do, it shouldn't have taken this long."

"Eh, clear out missions take a while. You could be leaving two days early or staying a week late. It happens." The older girl said, taking a bite out of her meal, "If I were you, I'd concern yourself with something a little bit more important... Like your History grade."

"H-Hey!"

Coco snickered at the leaders reaction, "I'm joking. And I'm telling you, they're fine, so don't worry."

"Are you so sure about that, Miss Adel?" A voice called from the end of the table, causing both teams to do a double take.

"WOAH!" Coco flinched, dropping her sandwich, "Damnit... Oh, uh... Hi, Professor Ozpin."

"Hello." He greeted, "I was hoping I'd find you all together."

"What's wrong, Professor?" Velvet asked.

"I'm sure you've noticed, by now, the absence of a certain team." All present nodded, "I'm sure you've been wondering where they are presently at. Please, come with me. We have precious time."

Both teams looked to one another and shrugged, but did as the headmaster asked and followed him out of the cafeteria. After a short walk, they found themselves on their way to the schools armory. "Um, headmaster, I don't mean to be nosey, but what's going on?" Pyrrha asked.

"All will be explained soon." Ozpin said, stopping just outside of the armory. "Grab your weapons, students, and meet me at the hanger. Be quick." All present nodded and rushed inside whilst Ozpin departed for the hanger.

It had been less than twenty minutes since Glynda informed him that they found team RWBY, alive and well, but down in a dangerous area. The swamp they were in was more of a basin, surrounded by mountains. Past those natural borders however were lush, greener plains. Ozpin chuckled to himself, "It must be their luck that put them in that swamp, rather than the plains." Glynda didn't share his humor, but that didn't matter to him.

Ozpin made it to the hanger and found Glynda preparing both Bullheads. One was for the pickup, which would have medical supplies on board, while the other was for support, which was currently stocking itself with weapons.

That particular swamp area was known to house many Crokolisks. Too dangerous to clear out, topped with the fact that there was no interest in that area in the first place, gave hunters no reason to clear it out. Too much danger, not enough reward.

Still, Ozpin did have deep regrets of agreeing to Mr. Schnee's requests in only sending in his daughter's team. Ozpin wished he had sent in at the very least team CFVY. Even JNPR would have been some help in their current situation. 'Still,' he thought, 'Preparation for the world of hunting I suppose.'

"Glynda," He called. Professor Goodwitch snapped to attention, "Are all of the bullheads ready?"

"A-almost, sir. We're finishing loading the ammo now."

"Good." Ozpin nodded. Looking out to the entrance of the hanger, he awaited teams CFVY and JNPR's arrival. Explaining what happened and what their job will be is going to be the easy part, executing the plan will be difficult, only because of the ever present Grimm there.

Ozpin didn't wait long as both teams entered with their weapons in hand. "Ok, Ozpin," Coco declared, "What's going on?"

"Well, Miss Adel, since you're so anxious I'll explain." Ozpin sighed, stopping Glynda from scolding the younger women, "At approximately three o'clock this afternoon we lost contact team RWBY's bullhead over a swampy basin, surrounded by the Waldrike Mountain range. for almost an hour and a half we attempted to re-establish contact, until we received a hail from the emergency radio from the craft.

The GPS on said radio is still active, though we are unable to establish a satellite link at this time to see how they are doing. Unfortunately, they haven't responded to our more recent hails, which concerns us greatly."

Professor Goodwitch stepped in, "Your mission is a search and Rescue for them. Team CFVY, we thought you would be more willing to go if you had some... larger weapons at your disposal." Coco's eyes shined, "You will be providing cover, while Team JNPR will be doing the actual rescue."

"We will explain more into your mission as you make your way there. In the mean time, load up. Every second we waste is a second closer to death for Team RWBY." Ozpin said, voice as level as ever. Both teams nodded and went to their respective crafts. After loading up, the pilots raised their altitude and flew off.

"How long until they make it?"

"Hopefully, within twenty minutes, if the pilots punch it."

"Well then, Professor Goodwitch, let's hope you're correct."

* * *

With a fiery blast Yang knocked back another Crok. The fight had been going as well as one could expect. That meaning that they were all holding their own. Weiss needed more help than usual, but that was mainly because her injury was getting worse. It wasn't swelling as much, but it was bruising, very badly. She was slower and had to watch herself, as any wrong move would lead to more pain.

The sheer number of Crokolisk's that currently surrounded the group was mind boggling small. Just a few dozen. In terms of normal Grimm that wouldn't be much, but in terms of theses beasts only one dozen are as dangerous as a few packs of Ursa Majors.

Distance is key when fighting these beasts, but when you're running out of ammo fast, that little tidbit goes out the window.

Luckily, though, Weiss worked best at a distance. Her glyphs, along with her weapon itself, made ranged fighting easy. Using most of her ice dust, she managed to impale a few Crok's by stabbing her blade into the ground, causing the water to freeze and rise up, piercing through their undersides. Those that weren't killed instantly would hang there until they died.

Yang glanced over towards Blake, watching her work. Her faunus teammate was holding her own, mainly because of her semblance. She could dodge the massive chomps of the Crokolisks easily, but flat out killing them was tough. The undersides weren't as armored, but it was tough to reach there without getting bit in half.

"Yang, watch out!"

Before Yang could react she was smacked hard by what could only be described as a small train. Looking up, she saw a Crok, standing on its back legs, staring down on her. Stunned, be it by the force of the hit or the fear she felt, all Yang did (or could do) was stare as the beast slowly opened its massive jaws, revealing a dark maw of death.

Accepting her fate and bracing for the worst, Yang closed her eyes, when in a flash of red the beast in front of her had lost its head. Opening her eyes Yang saw a flurry of rose petals fall around her, revealing a figure oddly similar to her sister...

Wait...

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Ruby shook her head, "Yang Xiao Long, I can't leave you alone for two minutes without you getting into trouble, can I?" She extended a hand to Yang.

Yang chuckled, smiling lightly, "What can I say? It tends to follow me." She claimed, accepting her sister's help. In a flash, once again, Ruby was gone. It was very clear that she was out of ammo, or at least close to being. She was using her speed as momentum to cut the Grimm up, something that she had done often whenever she found herself strapped for bullets.

Yang jumped back, getting a better view of the battleground. They were losing and she knew it. It took far too much to kill one of these things, and it was only a matter of time before the Crok's got a clue and begin to overwhelm them. She looked up at the trees that surrounded them. Very large oak trees, with flat canopies as the branches stretched out...

Flat canopies...

"Oh duh." Yang smacked her face with her hand, internally kicking herself too, "Ruby! Treetops!" The aforementioned leader looked up and saw exactly what Yang saw. She too smacked herself. "Blake, Weiss! Follow us!"

Instead of waiting for the two, Yang and Ruby both picked up their respective partners and rushed up the closest tree. After making a quick ascent, all four took a seat upon the flat-top of the tree and looked below them. The Crok's were circling the very oak tree the team found themselves in, most with mouths open indicating they were ready for their meal.

"Well," Yang spoke, out of breath, "I think we found our place to hide!"

The top of the tree wasn't entirely spacious, but it would due as a place to rest for a few minutes. Weiss was trying to get settled, clearly not enjoying the small space of the canopy. "Ruby!" She called, "Will you move over!?"

"Where?" Ruby asked, looking down, "I move anywhere and I fall. And I don't wanna fall."

"Weiss just bring your knees to your chest and wrap your arms around them. Boom, problem solved." Yang said, doing exactly as she instructed Weiss to do. The heiress was more reluctant to do that, considering her stomach. It was visible to the others that she was still in pain, regardless of how much she denied it.

"I think I'll pass, thanks."

"Still hurting?" Blake inquired.

"Not pain, more discomfort. It's tough to move, too. I think sore would be the best word for it."

"Let me take another look." Blake climbed over both Yang and Ruby, who were both sitting between her and the white haired heiress. Blake sat to Weiss' left whilst Ruby moved next to Yang in order to give her faunus teammate more room.

Blake began her examination, feeling her teammates abdomen and watching for a reaction of any kind. The area in question was still bruised, but it wasn't worse than it was earlier. It appeared that Weiss' aura had stopped whatever it was, but didn't heal it completely. Whether or not it was because of low aura overall wasn't a concern; Blake's main concern was whether or not it was severe. "Does any of that hurt?" She asked as she pressed down on the bruise. Weiss shook her head, but her facial expression told Blake that it was definitely uncomfortable.

Blake sat back furrowed her brow, "I have no idea. It could be a ruptured organ, or just a popped blood vessel. But it's not any worse than it was earlier and apparently it's not hurting anymore. We'll just have to wait and see what the doctors say."

Ruby and Yang looked to each other, nodded, then to Weiss. She covered her stomach once again and nodded, understanding that she would have to wait for actual medical professionals to get answers. "Hey Blake..." Ruby called. Blake turned her attention to her young leader as she sat back on a branch. "Where did you learn medical training?"

"We had to know a few things about medicine in the White Fang." Blake said easily, "Just in case something happens."

"I'm going to take your current bluntness as you being tired right now?"

"Yes, Weiss. At this point I just don't care. I just want to go home."

"Don't we all." Ruby said, leaning back on a large branch. She wasn't putting her full weight on it, in case her seat of choice wasn't as strong as it appeared. Yang noticed this and pulled her sister to her side, sharing her seat. "So... How long do you think we have? U-until our rescue gets here?"

Weiss sat up, cupping her hand under her chin, "I don't know, Ruby. Maybe... Ten minutes? I suppose I could ask, I have the radio right here." She pulled the Emergency Radio to the center of the canopy and turned it on. As she began to speak into the microphone, Blake allowed her eyes to wonder.

She looked around from her elevated position. Crok's were everywhere, ranging in size. They were just, staring up at the team, some even able to stand on their back legs. Menacing would be a word to describe it.

Blake looked down, only to see some of these beasts attempt to climb the tree. Some made it a good distance, but ultimately failed. This allowed the faunus to breathe a sigh of relief. She turned to Ruby, who had also been watching bellow. The two shared a concerned glance, but shrugged. It didn't appear that the Crok's could get up to them.

Blake zoned back in to the end of the conversation between Weiss and... Whoever was on the other end. It sounded like professor Goodwitch, but she just didn't know. "Well," Weiss sighed, putting the radio down, "She said fifteen minutes. They're going as fast as possible though."

"That's good, right?" Ruby asked. Everyone nodded, to which she physically relaxed. "Good..." She looked down and squinted, trying to determine if what she was seeing was true...

The Grimm were trying to _eat away the tree_. "Hey, guys... Uh, How well do you think A Crokolisk could eat a tree?"

"Could you repeat the question?" Weiss asked, "It sounded like you said 'eat a tree'!"

Yang looked down, seeing what her sister saw. The Crok's, mouths agape, had begun to take bites out of the massive oak tree's trunk. The tree shook with each bite taken. "Woah... You gotta be kidding me, right?!" She yelled as she jumped away from the end. "They're _actually eating the tree!_ What the hell is this!?"

"Someone doesn't want us getting out of here!" Ruby yelled, "I think it's time we abandoned ship!"

Just as she finished her sentence, the tree began to fall...

* * *

**Well... That's a thing. **

**This is where I contemplated finishing the first time, but said 'Nah, you're good, chief.' Next thing I know I'm about 7k words in saying 'Maybe I'm not that good...' **

**Oi, about halfway through this chapter I realized I have a very, _VERY_**, **simplistic writing style. I'm gonna try and fix that. **

**So what did you think? I know, not enough. But I'm not sure if I'd be able to hold your attention for 8k words. Splitting was the best possible outcome for me and for you in the long run. I'll be finishing the next chapter overnight and should have it up and ready tomorrow. There'll be another chapter after that for the epilogue. **

**Now, when I say these next few words, I mean it. I don't want a "cool story" or a "Nice chapter". No. I want a review. I want to know how you feel. Do you agree with what I said about my writing style? Do I suck? Am I ok? Let me know! I want an actual review!**

**TWO WORDS DOESN'T HELP ME, PEOPLE!**

**With that, I'm off. I hope you all enjoyed.**

**Until Next Time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**This... This became so much more than I intended it to be... **

**And yet, I couldn't be happier with it. In the end this chapter has 7,252 words. Contained in those 7,252 words are moments of hopelessness, helplessness, acceptance of death, a few cursing by Coco, a giant freaking king Grimm that I totally made up for my already totally made up Grimm in this story, all capping off with fire. Lots and lots of fire. **

**Are you ready? Good.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Jaune shifted anxiously in his little corner of the Bullhead. Nerves were running high as he, and his team, had slowly begun to realize what was at stake. 'Every second we wait is a second lost...' He thought grimly. Though he tried to keep those thoughts out, he just couldn't help it.

He looked out the door at the setting sun. 'Almost night. We need to hurry.'

Before his anxiety could peak, a hand on his shoulder brought him back into reality. He peered over, meeting Pyrrha's emerald eyes. "Jaune," she said, "They'll be alright."

Her assurance made him smile slightly, "I know, Pyrrha. But I'm still going to worry, you know?"

She nodded, understanding his concern. She, too, was worried. But, she wasn't going to show it. Someone had to keep the mood and morale up. 'Though, we _could_ be going a bit faster, could we?'

* * *

As the tree began to fall, they made a jump for it, each landing at their own individual distances. Weiss used a glyph to boost her jump, Ruby and Yang used their sheer leg strength whilst Blake utilized her semblance to bounce over a few of the beasts below. They all rose to their feet and formed up quickly, their weapons drawn, but not raised.

"Think we can fight them off?" Yang asked, attempting to catch her breath.

"I-I... I don't know..." Ruby admitted. On any other day, maybe they could fight. But she had to look at facts. Her team was busted, bruised and otherwise not one hundred percent. Not to mention their lack of ammo and overall arms and energy to fight this fight, made her seriously consider that this just might be the end. "We... We could run?"

Blake's shoulders sagged, "They'll just catch up to us. Girls, I think it's time we faced facts... This looks like it's it..."

And then it hit them; the futility of it all. No matter how hard they'd fight, the Crokolisks would just keep coming. They just could not stop them all, even if the team was properly

They each looked around and, despite the severity of their situation, began to truly admire the scenery of the swamp. Yes it was a more gloomy area, but the way the sun shone through the branches and the leaves, sparkling over the dew and the ankle-high (in some areas) water.

Blake was the first one to speak, "I've been surrounded by my enemies my entire life, forced to do the most regrettable things for a cause I no longer believed in. But here, now, I can say that I fought for something that I did believe in..." She wiped away a tear as she drew Gambol Shroud, "And I can also say that I died with my friends, too."

Now Weiss was surprised by Blake's confession. The heiress knew of Blake's repentance and personally forgave her, but never did she hear something like that...

It compelled her... "I- I'm not ready to die..." She admitted, "But it beats being the head of a company that I don't want to be a part of anymore... Ah to hell with it! Winter can take over!" She smiled cynically as she raised Myrtenaster, "She needs some responsibility anyway!"

"I think Weiss cracked, everybody." Yang quipped, earning a dirty look by the aforementioned Heiress and a slap to the shoulder by her sister. "Whatever. I'm just looking forward to going out with a-"

"Don't say it, Xiao Long!"

"Oh no..."

"Please, sis, not again!"

"Go out with a 'Yang'!" She gave a fake maniacal laugh, much to her teams discomfort.

"Sorry guys," Ruby sighed, "I tried to stop her."

Blake patted her on the shoulder, "You did you best." She realized her leader had been silent during their admissions, almost in a trance. 'She probably doesn't know what to say...' The faunus turned around, facing away from the group, looking at the Croks as they continued to surround her team. Yang and Weiss took to either of her side, creating a diamond formation.

Now, as they looked on into what appeared to be an endless maw of Crokolisk Grimm, the feeling of doom and dread didn't feel so bad. Each member of Team RWBY felt as though they knew the end was here, and wanted to welcome it.

'After all this,' Yang thought as she shifted her stance around, 'After how far we came, _this_ is how we're going to die...' She was bummed, more than anything. She wanted to keep fighting but was just far too exhausted. Her Aura was spent long ago, as was the rest of her teams', and they were just running on fumes. It would be moments before the adrenaline would wear off and they would each drop.

A Crok in front of Ruby was first to make a move, lunging for the young reaper, only to be met with a downward swing of a scythe. The next Crok came at Blake, darting towards the faunus with its mouth agape. Blake, however, was having none of it, and sent Gambol Shrouds katana right through the Grimm's eye. It punctured out of the skull of the, now former, attacker.

Weiss was next to face a charging Crok. It had been pacing, trying to find an open time to attack. The heiress had kept a cold, unrelenting stare upon it, all while the beast seemed to smile. Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss could see another Crok charge. 'Hmph, too easy.' She thought. This was one of the first tactics she learned about in combat training, as most did. It was very easy to counter. She put up a Glyph in front of the charging Grimm, only to notice a swift red blur and a slicing sound. Double taking, she noticed that the Crok no longer had any legs. She turned her white Glyph black, and when what was left of the Grimm made contact she turned it to the pacing Grimm and fired away, shooting both far from the group.

Yang had begun to wrestle with one of the oversized lizards, staying underneath its mouth to avoid being chomped in half. She mustered whatever strength she could, planted her feet firmly in the ground, grabbed the Grimm's chest and (what she imagined to be) it's waist, and lifted. Three hundred and fifty pounds, easy, of Crokolisk rose from the ground, it's arms flailing as it chomped away, growling all the way up. The blood-red eyes returned as Yang once again found her strength, and she threw the Grimm, overhand, right into three more.

"I'm not sure how long we can do this!" The brawler declared, trying to catch her breath. She was met, however, by an unusually familiar voice.

"We hold out until the very end, damnit!" It was Ruby who had made the bold declaration. She was still fighting, harder than anyone would imagine, considering all that had happened. Despite what she said earlier she still wasn't going to go down so easily. It brought renewed vigor and confidence in her team.

'If she can do it, we can do it!' Blake thought.

'I won't be counted out yet!' Weiss screamed at herself, demanding more out of her not-so-warn-out body.

'Atta girl, sis. You keep those spirits up.' Yang smiled. She knew her sister had the will of a warrior, a refusal to go down so easily. Whether it was determination or stubbornness would depend on the event.

The fought on, unable to relent against an equally relentless enemy. They kept coming, but Team RWBY kept fighting.

As the sounds of battle filled the air around her, Blake couldn't help but hear... Something else... It was close, but not too close. Gradually getting louder. A low hum that sounded like...

An engine!

"Guys..." The faunus called, hear cat-ears twitching as the sound grew louder and louder, "We've got company!"

Before anyone could respond, a voice came over the beaten up radio, which the team had forgotten about after the tree collapsed, "Team RWBY, this is Team CFVY, here to help!" A very familiar voice called, ringing attention to the sky, "I've got a package here with some overgrown Lizards on it, and I think I know where to drop it off!"

Ruby turned to Weiss, whose expression was one of surprise and realization. Weiss flinched, checked Myrtenaster and gave a nod. "Get close!" Ruby declared as the sound of a gun winding up was heard. The team huddled as Weiss plunged her blade into the ground, creating a small cocoon of ice. From the inside, the team could hear and _feel_ the hail of bullets hit the ground with such force. The earth below them rumbled as the Bullhead stayed overhead.

Weiss, unable to continue with the shell, collapsed, as did the teams ice barrier. "Weiss!" Ruby yelled, checking her for vitals. Her breathing was soft and rapid, indicating her fatigue. "Yang, think we coul-"

"HIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A smash and crash was heard, interrupting Ruby before she could make a command. The team turned towards the sound of the interruption, only to find none other than Nora Valkyrie and her larger than all hammer, with a smoldering body of Grimm beneath her. "Tadaa!" She declared, striking a pose.

"Nora?!" Yang yelled in disbelief.

"The one and only! Oh, look, there's everyone else!" She pointed behind the ill-fated team before her. Just past the tree line, three figures came into view, each carrying distinct weapons. Before they could completely come into view Team RWBY knew exactly who was who.

"Well," Pyrrha started, "Nora certainly has the right attitude."

"I think she cheated." Jaune chuckled, earning a whine from the aforementioned hammer-wielder. "She found them, though, so I'm going to let it slide."

"Yay!"

"Hey!" A bark came over the radio, "Can we _please _get them and go?! You've got way more Grimm coming at ya!"

"I agree with Coco." Ren stated calmly, "Is she ok?" He pointed to Weiss' fallen form.

"Y-yeah, I... I think she's o-out of gas..." Ruby stuttered, "Uh... Is this actually happening?"

"You bet!" Nora jumped, turning Manghild into its Grenade Launcher form, "Now come on! We have a swamp to escape from!" She swiftly threw Weiss' unconscious body over her shoulder and skipped away, her weapon in her free hand.

Ruby, Blake and Yang were still sitting, unmoved. The trio attempting to process what just happened.

Ruby sat, wide eyed and silent, her mind a blank. The one thing that brought her back to reality was a hand in front of her face. When she looked up, she expected to see Yang, or... Even _her_... But was mildly surprised when she saw Pyrrha's green eyes staring back at her. "Need a hand?" Was all the young leader heard.

"I- uh... Yeah, thanks." Ruby accepted the hand, as the rest of her team rose with the help of Jaune and Ren. "I... Seriously, is this-?"

"Hey, I don't mean to be that guy or anything, but we should get going before Coco yells at us again." Jaune said, fear laced in his voice. It wasn't his current fear of where they were, rather the fear of what Coco would do if they continued to do nothing.

"Right!" Pyrrha clapped, "You three think you can walk on your own?"

Ruby, Blake and Yang all nodded, confirming Pyrrha's hope. The gladiator was _not_ looking forward to carrying even one of the team. 'Maybe Ruby or Weiss, they seem pretty light...' She thought as the group began to make their way to the Landing Zone.

Team CFVY's Bullhead was still above, but slightly out of the way to deal with other threats. Tean JNPR's bullhead, however, was hovering over a nearby clearing. Despite their best efforts, however, the remainder of Team RWBY just had a difficult time keeping up with the fresh and ready team JNPR.

Blake and Yang wasn't as self-conscious of their current speed, but Ruby was. She was afraid she was going too slow, considering she was in the back of the group. 'I... Shouldn't be this tired, right? I didn't use that much Aura?' She thought, 'Oh who am I kidding, Yang's probably going to chew me out when we get back home!'

"You ok?" A voice called, bringing her back to reality. Once again silver eyes met emerald, though blurry. "You seem sluggish. Are you ok?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Never better!" Ruby lied. The look in her tired eyes as well as how she currently felt fooled no one. She knew everyone wanted to move faster but she just couldn't. What also didn't help her cause was her shaking legs, clearly about to give out. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, only to be met by an almost pleading look. "I'm ok, honest."

She wasn't fooled for an instant, but decided to give the reaper some space. 'Probably a pride thing.' Pyrrha thought. She decided to stay close for that moment when Ruby would finally collapse.

Needless to say she didn't have to wait long, as after a few steps the young leader's legs finally gave way.

She grunted as she dropped to her knees, struggling to get up. Yang had turned around with a tired expression, about to jump back towards her sister. The one thing that stopped her, however, was Pyrrha, having enough, lifting the smaller girl on to her shoulders and catching up with the group.

"Ready to go?" Jaune asked. He and the rest of the group had stopped when they heard Ruby's grunt.

"Yeah, I'm good." Pyrrha replied. As the rest of the group began to walk, Yang wondered how long it would be until Blake joined the other half of the team. All the while Blake wondered when Yang would drop, considering the brawler had been awake the longest of the team.

Jaune told Ren to go out ahead and to find Nora. As the latter nodded and ran ahead, Jaune turned to the others, "The clearing's about another couple hundred meters, we're almost there."

"Finally." Yang sighed, "I can't wait to get back home."

"Tell me about it." Blake said, tiredly, still keeping quiet. Yang was quick to hear her tone of voice, even though the others didn't.

"You know, I have just enough strength to give you a break, if you need?" She offered, but Blake kindly refused.

"I can make it back, you worry abo-"

Splash...

Yang stood over her partners fallen form, her face resting in the inch-high water. The blonde looked at the half of team JNPR before her and couldn't help but giggle. "I... Uh... Adrenaline?" She shrugged. Both Jaune and Pyrrha accepted the answer as Yang threw her partner over her shoulders. "She's been fighting for a while, and coming down from an adrenaline high can do that to ya."

"I suppose you know from experience?" Pyrrha asked with a smile, implying Yang's thrill-seeking ways have lead her to some knowledge.

"Maybe." The brawler lied. She and Ruby both knew a thing or two about adrenaline highs. "I _do _know it can leave you very tired."

Both Jaune and Pyrrha let out a 'duh', indicating that they knew that much. Yang brushed it off and walked on. She herself could feel the tired creeping up on her, but was in no capacity to fall into sleep just yet. She wasn't done, and wouldn't be until she knew her team was safe.

Ahead of them, a bright light shone through a few branches. After passing a few trees, the (conscious) trio made it to the clearing Jaune had mentioned earlier. "We're here." He said, noticing Nora and Ren by a large rock.

The clearing was very large and open, with a boulder protruding from the ground decorating the middle. Just past that, however, was all water, whereas the side the teams were currently on was dry.

Leaning against the boulder was Weiss, with Ren right next to her, making sure nothing happened. Nora was on top of the rock, throwing smaller pebbles into the water beyond. "It's very deep." She said, confirming all suspicions.

"Just like the pilot thought," Pyrrha added, setting Ruby down by the slumbering heiress. Ruby, surprisingly enough, was semi-conscious. Despite the amount of Aura she had used, it appeared that her body had tired while her mind had not. The younger thanked Pyrrha and leaned her head back against the large rock. Yang had set her partner down on the other side of her sister.

She looked to Ruby and smiled, "Keep watch over these two, alright?" She turned to Pyrrha and nodded, silently indicating that they were ready. The gladiator returned her nod and turned to Jaune.

"You wanna be the one to do this?"

"Oh, no, Pyrrha, you're on a roll with it today." Jaune passed, not taking the chance to muck up over the radio. An issue that may or may not have happened twice this mission.

Pyrrha giggled and hit the button on the radio, "Archangel this is JNPR, Package is received and ready for pickup, over."

A static-covered voice was heard, "Copy, I'm on my way back. Gun Angel, keep them covered, will ya?"

"Oh, _that's_ our call sign?! Really!?" Coco hollered, "Jesus, I know kindergartners who can think of better names!" She sigh, still having the radio on, but not really caring for the fact. "Whatever, We'll do it." Team CFVY's engine was heard once again as it approached.

Pyrrha and Jaune, currently, were watching the swamp, making sure nothing came to attack them. Ren was watching team RWBY by the boulder; whilst Nora stood, watching the water. She had seen a few bubbles pop up, but wasn't able to tell if they were air-pockets or otherwise. She wanted to fire off a few rounds to test it, but didn't want to bring attention to them.

No matter how badly she wanted to, she knew it would be a bad idea. Team RWBY had made it so far and it was fair to endanger them again.

However, the danger still hadn't past...

Deep within the pond before her, lied another monster. Watching.

Waiting.

"Guys, it's Velvet," A voice broke, "These things don't give off a thermal reading, we can't see them! Be careful down there!"

Nora and Ren shared a look as did Jaune and Pyrrha. If their eyes in the sky couldn't see where these Grimm were with the infrared, then it's a visual game. If it's a visual game, it makes everything so much more dangerous.

Team CFVY's bullhead soared above, waiting for their counterpart to pick up the ground teams. Coco sat anxiously in her seat. They sent JNPR's craft out and away while they cleared out the rest of the Grimm, just in case something happened. The last thing they needed would be two downed craft.

"Coco, are you alright?" Velvet asked, worriedly. She had been reading Coco's expression all mission, knowing full well her team lead wasn't very happen.

"I'd be a lot better once we get out of this place." Her leader spoke, annoyance laced her voice. "This is all just... I don't know, this situation just doesn't sit right. Something's up something's going to happen... But when?"

Velvet gathered her thoughts. She, too, had a feeling of dread. Something else was out there, she could feel it. 'Maybe I can see it, too?' The faunus thought. She looked out one of the open doors of the bullhead and began to examine the environment closer.

In the background was their second bullhead, finally making his approach. On the ground, nothing. Neither Pyrrha nor Jaune had seen anything in the tree line move. and Velvet couldn't see past the thick branches. She looked towards the pond Nora was watching. Every now and again she could make out a small ripple, but just couldn't tell if it was wind causing it, their engines, or... Anything. It could be so many options, but the one that concerned her the most was the prospect of more Grimm, hiding.

As her craft began to circle around to make room for the ground teams' pickup, she got a better view of the water. It was murky, leaving her unable to see the bottom of the pond. As they dropped their speed, the engines began to point into the pond, creating more ripples.

Then she saw it.

That bone-white armor,

Those blood-red eye...

Resting just beyond the boulder which sat the resting Team RWBY...

"Guys!" Velvet yelled, "Look in the water!"

All eyes turned towards the pond. The beast knew it had been spotted and decided to make his presence known. Jumping above the water, the Crokolisk stood, taller and wider than any of the oak trees that currently surrounded them. It's roar filled the sky, deep and angry. Armor covered almost its entire body; even the underside.

Nora and Ren looked on, horrified. They each jumped, taking the two unconscious members of RWBY. Ruby, using whatever strength she had, grabbed onto Yang and launch herself off the rock, taking Yang with her.

"My god..." Jaune whispered, watching in horror as the monstrosity moved toward his team. It walked on its hind legs, dropping to all fours when it made it to land. Unleashing a massive roar, it seemed to be beckoning others to join the fight.

Velvet was shocked. She had seen massive Grimm before, had brought down many on her own, but never something like this. Crok's were rare indeed, only a few areas in the whole _world_ held them. But for one of this size... It seemed impossible...

"Fox, Yatsu!" Coco yelled, "Get down there and help them!" Before she could finish the two had jumped, anxious to get in the fight. As they dropped, Coco opened her bag, letting her chain gun unfold. "Archangel, get out of here! We'll cover them! Pilots, start spooling your guns! Velvet-" She turned to her teammate with an almost sick smile, "Let's fuck this bitch up."

That was all Velvet needed. She unclipped her box and flipped open the top, revealing dust... A lot of dust...

Jars of assorted dust, from the basic to mixtures, it was all within that box. She was hoping she could save it for a rainy day, when she realized that _it doesn't get any rainier than a giant, angry Crok!_ She began to remove the caps of the jars as Coco spooled up her gun, waiting on her teammate before unleashing a full hellfire assault. Finally the mage had weaved fire dust in one arm and lightning in the other; literally the two most destructive, and rose from her kneeling position. Her eyes glowed momentarily as she summoned her Aura, preparing her spells.

"Fire!" Coco declared. She and Velvet both began to unleash a furious assault upon the Crok, managing to grab its attention. The pilot weaved to avoid a swipe.

"This is our chance!" Jaune declared, "Let's get them out of here! Nora, Pyrrha, open fire. The rest of us, pick up a sleeper and-" A snap of a branch got his attention. From the tree line, more Crok's had appeared, hungry-looking as ever. "Oh come on!"

"Know our pain..." Yang huffed as she struggled to her feet. Ruby had effectively worn herself out and joined her teammates in slumber. Yang, on the other hand, was still fighting to stay awake. She wasn't go to go down until she knew her friends were safe.

She wasn't just that way with Ruby, it was with everyone she had ever known. That was the kind of person she was; contrary to popular belief. Everyone saw her as the go-go party girl-which she was that on occasion- but really she was more protective then that. When they were in grade-school, Ruby called her 'Mama bear" as a joke. But that joke would actually be the reality of it.

She shook the memory away and brought herself back to the issue at hand. Team JNPR, Yatsuhashi and Fox were in their fighting stances, standing in between RWBY and the Croks.

"Jaune, I think Crokzilla called some friends!" Nora shouted, aiming her Grenade Launcher at the forest.

"I think you're right, Nora. Cut them down!" Jaune's order was met with a resounding display of warfare, as all available guns opened on the forest. Some explosions were strong enough (thanks mostly to Nora's canon) to start fires on the trees.

Most of the Grimm within the forest never made it out. They were either blown away or fled from the fire. The ones that did, however, were dealt by Fox and Yatsuhashi, who jumped ahead to be the melee.

Yatsuhashi smashed his blade into the ground, creating a shockwave large enough to damage the Crok's outer armor. That was where Fox had his moment. He used his gauntlets to slice the now unprotected Grimm with ease. When the Grimm fell, the duo jumped back to stay with RWBY, keeping them protected; JNPR was the ones firing into the forest.

Yang watched on and was envious. She knew she had fought enough but still wanted to go a few more rounds. Ammo and Aura be damned, she wanted to give back what she and her team had taken these last few hours.

Looking behind her, she saw Crokzilla flail its arms, trying desperately to hit CFVY's bullhead. Whenever they weren't whipped around in an attempt to avoid the behemoths' hand, gun fire and magic bolts could be seen, indicating that the other half of CFVY was still putting up a fight.

"Gun Angel this is Archangel..." JNPR's pilot broke, "Is there any chance that we can make a rescue? Over?"

"Negative! It's too dangerous!" Coco hollered, "This thing could turn on them any minute, then we'd _all_ be screwed!"

"Then let me help you out. You aren't the only one ready to fight!" Without a seconds hesitation JNPR's craft went into a hover; it's underbelly chain gun beginning to fire out. Two weapons bay doors alongside the craft opened up and a flurry of rockets and burst-missiles erupted from the craft. Crokzilla was facing away from Archangel when they opened fire, leaving its back to take the assault.

The massive Grimm roared in pain as it dropped to all fours before completely collapsing. Many roars broke out from around the forest as it began to burn. Crokzilla lay, unmoving and, by the sound of the roars around them, it appeared to be dead.

"We... We did it..." Jaune claimed, more quizzically than certainly. He and Pyrrha shared a glance before turning back to the fallen behemoth. Despite its size and appearance, it was taken down rather quickly. 'Though, with the ammo they pumped into him, I'd be surprised if he would get up again...' Jaune thought. Smoke rose from the beast, it's armor cracked and broken.

"Archangel this is Gun Angel, go ahead for the pickup." Coco called, every barrel of her gun smoked from its use. Velvet dropped to her knees, her dust storage mostly spent. she had a little of everything available, but that would still not be much. She stared out the door, tiredly, at the popularly dubbed Crokzilla. 'We put everything we had into him,' she thought, 'But that still shouldn't be enough. A creature like that with that kind of armor should not be that weak... It should _not _have been _that_ easy.'

The faunus squinted to concentrate her vision. If she couldn't hear it, she hoped to at least see it.

And she did.

Archangel had landed, though keep its engines on in case of an emergency dust off. Fox and Yatsuhashi had picked up the fallen of RWBY; Fox take Blake and Yatsuhashi taking Weiss. Yang commissioned Pyrrha to handle Ruby whilst Ren and Nora helped the blonde limp towards the craft.

All of her team began to stir, which was a great sight for Yang. Fatigue from the overuse of Aura was a dangerous issue for hunters, no matter who they are. It can leave you incapacitated, or even comatose in extreme cases. Now, though, seeing her team begin to wake up made her happy that their fatigue wasn't as severe.

Jaune closed one of the open sides of the bullhead, latching the door shut. Pyrrha was the next one inside the craft behind her leader. She set Ruby down on the crafts foldaway seats, securing the harness so the young leader wouldn't fly all over the place.

Fox was the next one in, setting Blake's half-awake form next to her leader. Before Fox could fasten her in, she took the harness from his hands and began to do it herself. It wasn't to prove anything, it was just to do it.

Yatsuhashi came in next with the not-so-surprisingly asleep form of Weiss. The heiress had been in and out of consciousness now for a while, and had just slipped away once again. The large warrior set the smaller girl down on an open seat next to her faunus teammate. Blake tiredly stared as Yatsuhashi fumbled with the harness. It was evident that he didn't know how to use it, and considering his size it wasn't all that surprising. Pyrrha, deciding not to let the second year embarrass himself any longer, patted him on the shoulder and took over. She got the harness around Weiss with ease, leaving Yatsuhashi shaking his head.

Just as Nora and Ren approached with Yang, a voice cried out over the radio. It was Velvet, and she sounded horrified, "Guys! Get out of there, now!"

Before anyone could ask what was happening, Archangel began to shift. Nora, Ren and Yang being thrown to the ground to avoid being crushed by the bullhead. It didn't take long to see why...

Crokzilla stood once again, his armor cracked, his body smoking from the earlier assault. He wasn't dead yet and was, in fact, looking for a bit of payback.

Yang's heart began to race as her counterparts began to help her to her feet. Nora's general cheery face was now replaced by one of absolute fear, whilst Ren stood in shock. "We need to move!" He shouted, leading the girls into the burning swamp.

Both of the Bullheads began to open fire on the massive beast once again hoping that each bullet would be the last. Within Archangel, everyone had kept to the closed side of the bullhead, trying their hardest to not be thrown out of the aircraft mid-maneuver. To Ruby, this was all a dream. Being thrown around like a rag doll tied to a seat made her want to hurl if she had any food in her right now. She couldn't tell if the world was spinning or if she had suffered _another_ head injury. 'Two in one mission... Huh, Uncle Qrow's got nothing on this...' She chuckled to herself.

As the red-clad girl looked around the Bullhead, she realized why they were still spinning. A lack of a blonde brawler, an orange haired hammer wielder and a lotus within the craft. It didn't take her long to connect the dots. 'They never made it on board...' She shook the dark thoughts away, trying to keep positive. She undid the harness that kept her tied to her seat, much to Pyrrha's dismay.

The gladiator tried her best to stop the younger teen from approaching the open door, fearing Ruby would fall out. She would fail, however, as Ruby's stubborn side prevailed. The reaper made it to the open door and peered out, not believing what she saw.

She wasn't awake to see Crokzilla the first time. Even now in its damaged state, she still couldn't believe what she saw. She turned away when the beast roared at the two bullheads above. Pyrrha finally got to her, wrapping her arm around Ruby's waist and grabbing hold of a nearby harness for safety with her free hand.

The red-clad girl looked desperately around at the ground, looking for her sister and friends. Eventually she found them, hiding close to flames. Crokzilla had made it to land, but was too distracted by the guns in the air to worry about three puny humans on the ground. She watched in distressed horror as her sister and friends hid, knowing full well she was helpless to do anything for them.

"Archangel, now will be your only chance! Get in there while we have his attention!"

The order came louder and clearer than anything Ruby had heard that day. It was past time they left, but this... _thing_, in front of them was all that stopped them. She wondered who was it that didn't want them to leave? Who above wanted them dead so badly?

Her Bullhead rode in, slipping behind Crokzilla and down to a vestige of open land. Nora and Ren helped Yang to her feet then booked it for the craft. The blonde put it into high gear, trying her hardest to build up speed. The bullhead wasn't on the ground, so she would have to jump.

The hammer wielder was the first on board, making enough height with the help of her weapon to clear the edge of the entrance. Ren had a bit more trouble than his counterpart, but with the help of Pyrrha, Ruby and Nora, he made it aboard with relative ease.

Yang wasn't so lucky. She had almost no energy left, which meant her jump just wasn't that good. She grabbed the edge of the craft, barely hanging on. The craft had begun to pull away, much to everyone else's distress. Nora hollered for them to stop, but the pilots could not. They had to get away before Crokzilla turned towards them.

Ruby grabbed her sisters hand, but was still being held back by Pyrrha. Ren took the other and together the two began to pull the blonde in.

Crokzilla had other plans, though. He had gotten bored with Coco and Velvet's craft and turned his attention towards the lower, hovering Bullhead. The pilots made notice of this and realized they had to leave, _now_. They banked right, causing everyone on board to trip, stumble and topple over each other. Ren lost his grip on Yang, but Ruby still hung on.

The red-clad reaper hung out of the Bullhead, being held up by Pyrrha, who was currently latched on to the girls cloak. Ruby struggled to pull Yang in, but the force of the turn had swung Yang around, making it entirely impossible to keep her grip. 'Come on.' She thought, 'You can't fail! Pull her in!'

But she just couldn't. The pilot made another maneuver to avoid a massive claw, and with it, Ruby's grip finally gave out.

"Yang!" She cried as Yang fell to the earth below. Ruby watched in agonizing horror, finally being pulled back into the craft by Pyrrha and Ren. She put up a fight, trying desperately to go back and help her sister.

"No, no..." Pyrrha soothed, keeping a the younger in a firm, yet gentle embrace. "You can't go. Don't worry, we won't leave without her..." As much as Pyrrha wanted to believe her own words, she just couldn't. Right now, the situation was dire, and it looked like there was no help in sight.

* * *

She fell from the Bullhead through the twilight sky. She thought, nay, hoped, that a fall from that height would be her end. She just wanted to rest, she just wanted it all to be over no matter how it ended. She knew her friends were safe and that's all she needed! She can die happy, right here right now!

But no. Fate had other plans for the blonde brawler.

She hit the ground with a resounding _thud_. Feeling the illumination of the flames in the forest behind her was all she needed to know that she was still alive. Rolling onto her front she pushed herself up, a feeling of dread moving up her spine as she rose to a standing position.

had a cynical smile on its face as it stared down at her. Yang walked backwards slowly, moving towards the flames. Her hope was that this thing in front of her world be turned off by the heat of the fires. She was so wrong.

Her shoulders slumped as she began to accept her fate. She closed her eyes and waited for the end, as the beasts mouth began to open. But before she could become Crok-food, she heard a noise.

No... She heard a voice.

"Yang!" It called. It was familiar. It was scared. It was...

...It was Ruby.

She opened her eyes, which had now turned blood-red once again. 'I... Won't... Die!' She thought, as she found her second wind. She peered up at Crokzilla, who could see the rage in the young huntress-in-training's eyes. The massive Grimm brought a big claw down upon her, which she grabbed hold of with both hands.

The resounding _smack_ emanated throughout the forest. Pyrrha, Ruby and everyone else on board watched on in amazement as Yang fought on. 'She did it... It's gonna leave her down a while, but she rekindled that fire...' Ruby thought, as she wiped a tear from her eyes. It wasn't going to be enough, but she could still leave a fight long enough for them to get her out.

Velvet and Coco also watched on, stunned that their friend was still on her feet, let alone fighting. Coco looked to her faunus teammate as an idea popped into her head. "Velvet!" She cried, putting a hand on the mage's shoulder, "How much fire dust do you have left?!"

Velvet checked her storage, sifting through to make sure she had all of it in one spot. She held up a small jar, with barely an eighth of it full. "I only have this much..." She replied meekly.

"That may be enough..." The fashionista stood up and offered a hand. Velvet accepted but stared at her leader quizzically. "I need you to fire off a blast of fire dust at Yang." Velvet finally realized what Coco was saying, "Her aura will absorb it and she can use it to fight of this big son of bitch!" Coco turned towards the cockpit and yelled, "Get us in closer!"

"But, ma'am," The pilot began to argue, "It's too danger-"

"Look!" The brown-haired women took him by the collar and pulled him in close, "My friend is down there fighting a hand-to-hand fight against a giant Grimm. If you don't get us in close so we can give her a fighting chance I will personally throw you out the door and leave you for the Croks!" She took a breath after finishing her threat. "Now. Get. Us. Close!"

The pilot and co-pilot finally gave in to the demand, maneuvering the craft closer towards the blonde, who was currently hanging on to both of Crokzilla's claws. Velvet began to warp the dust around her hands, preparing it for the brawler below. Deep down she had hoped she wouldn't burn her friend alive. 'Ruby may never forgive me if I mess up...' She thought. 'Rightfully so... Now that I think about it...'

She shook the thoughts from her head, 'No! I have to do this right! Too much relies on this to work right!' Her eyes began to emit a soft glow as she warped the dust into a soft ball in her hands. The spell was ready, and she hoped Yang was too. 'If she rejects this, it _will_ kill her...' She thought. 'Please, don't refuse this!'

Velvet fired away, a red ball leaving her hands. Ruby and the others watched helplessly as it happened, expecting it to be a shot meant for Crokzilla. They were shocked and surprised to find the bolt arcing downwards, towards the brawler.

Yang, keeping her attention on the beast in front of her, could feel heat rising behind her. She thought nothing of it, as she expected the fires to have grown. However, she was surprised when her strength began to return to her. She looked down as red dust swarmed around her.

It was at this point where she realized that a Bullhead was right behind her. She glanced backwards and smiled, giving a nod in thanks. 'Velvet, when I'm done here I'm going to crush you in a hug!' Yang thought. 'Now let's teach this asshole a lesson.'

Yang breathed in, her body emanating a light glow that grew brighter and brighter as she absorbed more dust. She knew she had enough power for one powerful shot, but still held back. She harnessed all of her rage, holding her punch for just a moment so her semblance could, in essence, cook her newfound power and unleash it in one go.

Crokzilla had enough games, ripping its right arm free from Yang's left, it brought down a heavy claw on the brawler. With a sickening smack, the beast launched her back into a large tree. Said tree came down, providing a bit of cover for the brawler.

No movement came from the forest where she was launched into. The glow had vanished. Crokzilla roared a mighty roar of victory as the others began to lose hope. Tears welled in Ruby's eyes. Weiss kept hers closed tight, not wanting to see more. Blake hoped to see something out of the tree line. Seconds passed. Nothing happened.

"That can't be it..." Jaune staggered, disbelief in his voice. "After all of that, she can't be-"

A bright glow interrupted him as an explosion ripped through the swamp. Brighter than a second sun, Yang had finally let herself go. Flames shot out in all directions as anyone in a mile radius was blinded.

Crokzilla wiped his eyes and refocused his vision. He brought another left hook down, but was surprised to find a hot, burning sensation around its claw. Yang had grabbed hold, and was _melting away the armor_ by sheer contact. With her free arm, she unleashed a hellish punch, turning the entire left arm of the giant beast to _ash_.

Crokzilla recoiled, stepping away from the sun before it. Its armor on its chest had melted away from the prolonged exposure to the heat. Yang stepped closer, trying to incite another swipe. She got her wish as the Grimm let out a defensive chop with its good arm. Yang stepped to the right and let the arm crash into the ground. Then she jumped, bouncing off of the forearm of Crokzilla, heading for the beasts now exposed chest.

Yang mustered all of her strength into this next shot, a fire covering her entire arm. She wound back, let out a brutal roar that made Crokzilla itself look like a house cat, and slammed her fist into the Grimm's chest.

With a final explosion of hellish proportions, Yang followed through. She bounced back from force of the blast, planting her feet firmly on the ground. The glow she emitted had diminished and her eyes began to return to their lilac form. Yang watched on as Crokzilla roared in pain, grabbing its chest with its good hand. She left a gaping hole that burned the Grimm away with agonizing slowness.

She wanted to say she watched it die. She wanted to say she watched it _burn_. But, alas, consciousness began to abate her. Yang dropped to her knees, her shoulders sagging as she let out a final sigh of relief. It was over...

Now, she could rest.

* * *

**I feel as though I did Yang some justice here. Running off the headcanon that you could absorb dust and have it temporarily replenish aura really helped this chapter, especially in the end. **

**I don't really know what to say, to be honest. Normally I'll have something witty or funny but not right now, I don't know why. Instead, I'm just going to ask how I did. I don't normally do fight scenes, so this was a huge step out of my comfort zone. I wanna know how I did. **

**One last thing before I leave: There WILL be an epilogue to this story coming out in a few days. It's going to wrap everything up nicely, so if you have any questions all you have to do is wait. The final (and this time, I mean FINAL) chapter will have all your answers. **

**That's it from me. Let me know how I did, please. I love hearing from you all.**

**Until Next Time.**


	6. Chapter 6: Epilogue

**Now _this _is a finale.**

**I may have gotten carried away, but I at least wanted to wrap everything up in a way where I touched up on all the plot holes. I feel as though I did that, though how I did that is ultimately up to you.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

She slipped into a slumber, her body finally worn. As she closed her eyes, she could make out a shadowy figure moving towards her. Before she finally slipped away, she heard a deafening whine, but the pitch only got lower and lower.

And then, blackness took over.

* * *

Pyrrha helped Ruby to her seat next to her teammates. The younger girl wasn't sure what to feel.

Pyrrha kept assuring her that Yang would be fine. Ruby had warned Jaune and Ren, who had volunteered to retrieve the brawler, to be careful. Yang's body would probably be hot to the touch. Having known from experience that Yang going to the "second sun" level, as they called it when they first discovered Yang's semblance, that it does indeed take a few minutes to cool down. Also noting that there was no water around, save for the swamp water, which was determined to be a terrible, terrible, horrible idea.

Though the pilots of both Bullheads wanted to get out as fast as possible, Teams CFVY and JNPR had both noted the lack of Crokolisk's since Crokzilla had fallen. A sight for sore eyes, for sure.

Jaune and Ren quickly picked Yang up, practically running back to the bullhead quietly saying "Ow, ow, ow." repeatedly. The steam emanating from the fallen brawler indicated that Ruby's assumption was correct.

Yang was still really hot.

The duo did their best to set the blonde down lightly, but the moment she hit the cold steel, a hiss was heard and they both let go, shaking their hands in the air. "Oh, come on now," Pyrrha admonished, "She can't be that hot."

"Oh, really?" Jaune challenged, raising an eyebrow, "You put your whole hand on her shoulder then."

Pyrrha flinched momentarily, her eyes widened. She wanted to accept the challenge her leader put before her, but the look the rest of her team, as well as Ruby shaking her head, told her it may not be a good idea. "I- Uh... Pilot, let's get them out of here!"

"Good cover," Jaune rolled his eyes, "No, really. Outstanding excuse." Pyrrha waved off his obvious sarcasm and began to secure Yang. The pilots started the engines and began to take off.

Ruby looked to her team, tiredly. Weiss had fallen back asleep and Blake was faring no better. Ruby knew that she would be in the same position soon. Only this time, she could actually stay asleep. Nothing was keeping her or her team awake; no Grimm, no rescue, no swamp... Nothing.

They could all finally rest.

She looked down at her older sisters' resting form and smiled. If it weren't for Yang, they'd all have burned alive in their crashed Bullhead. She and the team would owe her big time, even if Yang wouldn't allow whatever they did to repay her.

Ruby tilted her head back, took both Blake's and Weiss' hand and closed her eyes.

'Now...' She thought, 'Now we rest...'

* * *

Blackness... That's all she saw around her...

Yang floated through emptiness, not really sure what to think. At this point, part of her knew she was sleeping, but part of her thought she was dead at the same time.

In this realm she was tired, but also not awake. She wanted to move, but instead kept floating on. She wasn't sure how long it had been since her battle, she wasn't sure how her team was doing either. She really wanted to know, but her body wouldn't obey her.

She couldn't wake herself up.

'I wonder... What if I am really dead? Did I push myself too hard?' She thought, panic struck her voice, 'Oh no! What about Ruby? What about dad? How will they react?' She kept going through all the people she knew and cared for, wondering how well, or poorly, each person would take it.

'And what about Weiss? I never did apologize to her! Oh she probably thinks I hate her! And Blake?' She thought back to her partner, whose face had now appeared in Yang's mind, 'We were so close to breaking her out of that silent, distant shell she's known for! She kept saying how she had the best prank for team JNPR!' Her shoulders slumped as her face fell, 'Man... Now I'm bummed that I won't be able to see that...'

Throughout her entire experience through what she believed to be purgatory, she began to reflect on what she had done. Mostly over the past year. She most certainly wasn't an angel, but she wasn't always a troublemaking anarchist, either.

As she began to think back, she heard voices. Some familiar, some new. She couldn't make out what they were saying, though. All she knew was that there were people nearby.

All she knew, was that she was close to the world, again.

* * *

Medical staff awaited the team's arrival in the hanger. Personnel with stretchers and a few makeshift ambulances that Beacon had, all waited patiently as the Bullheads touched down. As soon as the engines powered down and the doors opened, the staff took over.

Fox, Yatsuhashi, Ren and Nora all exited first before the rush could make its way to them. They waved off any medic who asked them a question, pointing them back to the Bullhead.

Pyrrha and Jaune had stayed inside, choosing to help their fallen friends. Weiss was out like a light, as was Yang. Ruby and Blake, however, were still clinging to consciousness. Surprisingly enough, it appeared that neither could actually stay asleep. This would pose big problems for the medics; they would have to sedate the two so they wouldn't hurt themselves later on.

"Ok, miss?" One medic said to Ruby, "Can you tell me your name?"

"I- uh... Yeah." She said tiredly as the medics began to take Yang and Weiss away on a stretcher. "Hey, be careful with those two!"

"It's alright, they're in good hands. I need your name." He insisted as his partner and Pyrrha began to undo Ruby's harness. Jaune and Pyrrha had already done Blake's; she was getting looked at now.

"My name... Yeah. Ruby." She finally let out.

"Alright, Ruby. We're going to give you a sedative. This should ease the pain and let you sleep for a while."

"Alright." The hooded girl nodded, "Let me have it."

The two medics looked at each other, "We, uh... We already did."

"Oh..." Was all Ruby could say before being lifted onto stretcher. As she was being strapped in, she noticed Blake, who had already been given her sedative and was being carried away. The faunus met her leader's glance, gave a smile and wink with a thumbs up, letting Ruby know she was all right.

Ruby smiled as the medics began to carry her away. It had been a long flight back to Beacon. One where she had tried, and failed, to sleep. Even now, as the sedative began to take effect, she tried to stay awake. Only so she could make sure that this was really real.

And yet, sleep seemed _so bliss_ right now...

She sighed and made her decision: Sleep now, find out what's real later.

* * *

Pyrrha and Jaune exited the Bullhead, meeting their team in the hangar. Team CFVY approached them as team RWBY was being sent to the school's infirmary.

Velvet, out of everyone, appeared to be the most tired. The amount of Aura she used on the King Crokolisk, let alone of buffing Yang, left her beyond all comparison beat. Not bad enough to go to the infirmary like her friends, but bad enough to allow her to sleep very well tonight.

Nora was the first out of the group to break the silence, "So... Did we do good?"

"I would say so." Pyrrha confirmed with a nod. Jaune gave a thumbs up alongside Ren, who gave a small smile.

"I would also say so." A voice called from behind the group. Everyone turned to face the owner of said voice. None other than Professor Ozpin. "You all performed exceptionally. Especially against that beast in the end. What was that you referred to him as, Miss Valkerie? 'Crokzilla'?" He chuckled. "Cute as that name may be, it was actually an Elder Crokolisk, aging over three-hundred-fifty years old."

All present went wide-eyed. Older Grimm were difficult to take down, let alone hurt. "He seemed more content on sleeping than fighting. Hence why he only made his presence known when you disturbed his pond."

"Wait..." Coco said, raising a finger, "Go back a moment... Where you listening in?" Ozpin nodded, "...That whole time...?" Another nod. Coco blushed a bit, taking a step away. She had made some... Interesting remarks during that mission.

"It's quite alright, Miss Adel. We know you have a rather... Explicit language set." Ozpin assured, much to everyone's laughter.

"Professor Ozpin," Ren called, "No disrespect, but why were you listening in on our mission? Also, where's Professor Goodwitch?"

"Ah, Goodwitch is with your friends on their way to the infirmary. She's making sure everyone is alright at the end of the day. Which reminds me, it's just after nine. You should all rest."

"Answer his question and we will." Coco demanded, coping an attitude.

Ozpin smiled and shook his head. "I listened in because Crokolisks are rather... Dangerous Grimm. I wanted to see how your teams would fare against such a powerful enemy." Coco crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow. Ozpin sighed, "And I was interested in seeing how well you'd all fight them off. There, Miss Adel, are you happy?"

"Quite." The brunette said with a smile and practically skipped away. Her team followed, Velvet waving goodbye.

"Aww. No after-mission party." Nora's shoulders sagged. She was hoping for Victory Pancakes with both teams; an after-mission tradition for her team. CFVY, however, had different plans. Mostly including rest.

"I'm sure we'll find time later, Nora." Ren assured, "But for now, I think we should do our mission report and rest up, too."

"You need not worry about the mission report." Ozpin interrupted. "I recorded the entire mission from your end. I only need a brief retelling from team RWBY once they awaken. You and team CFVY will report to my office tomorrow morning for a debriefing. Let's make it ten in the morning?" The team nodded at the suggestion, liking a later start. "Excellent. You are cleared from attending classes tomorrow. Sleep well."

With that, he left. Team JNPR followed suite soon after. It was a lot later than they realized, and they're morning debrief would come a lot faster than they'd expect.

* * *

Glynda rode to the infirmary, keeping her eyes to her scroll. The first year team before her came up on her screen with Aura readings of all four. She wasn't very surprised to see that they were all very low, if there was any at all. Tapped out would be a perfect way to describe the teams' situation.

Luckily, they were all finally resting. Glynda knew there would be no way any of them would rest, regardless of doctors orders, until they knew their whole team was ok. The bond they shared was, believe it or not, more common with Hunter teams. You need a certain level of trust and faith in one another to be a successful team, otherwise you will fail and ultimately parish.

"Glynda," A voice called, knocking the mage out of her stupor. She turned to face the owner of said voice; the lead medic. "We'll need to take Miss Schnee in for further examination. We don't actually know what's caused the bruising on the abdomen." The blonde women nodded as he continued, "Miss Xiao Long is going to go in for a bit of Aura therapy for a few days while she's out, which she _will_ be unconscious for the next two to three days. Miss Rose and Belladonna are going to getting bandaged up and then we'll see them when they awaken in about eighteen hours."

Glynda nodded, "How long on Miss Schnee?"

"She'll be up with the others, provided there's no surgery."

Again, Glynda nodded, "Alright. Keep a constant monitor on these two," She pointed to Ruby and Blake as their vehicle pulled up to the infirmary, "Just because they're better off than their friends, doesn't mean they're better off than their friends."

"Hey, what do you take us for? A bunch of rookies?" The older medic joked, earning a not-so-pleasant stare from the taller women before him. He got the message right quick, though; she wasn't in the mood to mess around. "Right. Alright, boys! Treat 'em well! These kids earned a nice rest.

'You could say that again,' Glynda thought to herself as she returned to her scroll. Each member of the first year team had something wrong with them in some way. Yang, obviously, was out of aura and needed Aura therapy, which is just something to help someone safely recharge their Aura after it running dangerously low or even completely out. If not, her body would try to heal itself whenever Aura came back, leaving her drained for a long period, which can lead to serious injury or even death.

Weiss had a bruising on her abdomen that nobody could explain. Glynda, as well as Ozpin and the head medic, all thought it was because she had her harness on too tight. If that were the case, however, the bruising wouldn't be there anymore. A few other theories are flying around, but it's all speculation until the doctors and nurses can have a look. She may be in need of Aura therapy, too.

Blake had a few deep scratches over her body, probably from fighting too close to the Croks. A few stitches and she'll be fine.

Ruby apparently hit her head on the doorframe of the Bullhead when they crashed. The prospect of a concussion was the biggest fear among the medical teams, but that thought died away, as it appeared to have been no more than a knock on the head. 'She truly dodged a bullet, didn't she?' Glynda thought as she examined Ruby on the scroll. 'How she walked away without serious injury is beyond me. Her Aura probably kept her from serious harm.'

She shook her head and began to call the Headmaster to inform him of what she had been told.

'It's just a game of patience, now.' She thought as his face appeared on the screen,

* * *

Rain began to patter the window, gray light shining through the curtains. The nurses tried to keep the overcast skies out of sight from their patients. They could keep the sight of the rain blocked, but the sound wasn't so easy.

All four members of Team RWBY was present. Yang was currently tied to special machines for her Aura therapy. That would keep her unconscious for the next two days, though no one thought she would mind the extra sleep, really.

The order in which the team was laid out in the room was based on who required the most attention. Yang, obviously, was closest to the door, followed by Weiss, then Ruby, then Blake. There was enough of a gap between each member for chairs, along with a side of the room totally dedicated to guests. It was a nice, spacious room.

Within the room sat Pyrrha who was reading a book, in between Ruby and Blake, and Nora listening to music, at the opposite side of Blake. Against the wall sat Ren. Jaune was currently trying to figure out how the vending machine at the end of the hall worked. The team had just gotten back from their debrief with Ozpin after a long nights rest. There, they had discovered how the Bullhead went down.

A 'one in a million' fluke, as General Ironwood assured, where the fuel line separated from the main fuel cell. This allowed a massive leak to occur that eventually caught fire, causing the craft to go down. Then, after they had crashed, the already compromised fuel cell ignited completely. Yang's quick thinking saved her team from certain incineration.

Pyrrha flipped a page of her book, rather, the magazine hidden within the book, and chuckled. Ren, who was undisturbed in his meditation, only responded with a slight raise of his brow. As she began to read on, she heard the door click open and saw her leader enter off the corner of her eye, a defeated look on his face and no treats in hand. It was apparent that he couldn't figure out how the machine worked.

Jaune sat next to Ren and slumped in his seat. The green clad boy responded with a light pat on his leaders head, saying "There, there." Pyrrha giggled as she used her semblance on the door, allowing it to close silently. The nurses informed the team that RWBY would awaken at any point, so they should stay quiet until the team wakes up naturally.

They hadn't been waiting long. Actually, they were hoping Team CFVY would get there soon. Team JNPR skipped breakfast because someone (may or may not have been Pyrrha, but she'd never admit to it) forgot to set the alarm right, making them almost late for their debrief. Needless to say, they were hungry, and CFVY was their meal ticket.

"Aw, was the machine being mean, Jaune?" Nora asked, removing her headphones.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Jaune held his head up with his hands, still clearly upset with his defeat. Nora chuckled, trying hard not to make fun of her leader.

As her team had their fun, with what little they could, at least, Pyrrha looked over to the two girls resting beside her. Ruby looked so still it was almost scary. The heart monitor, however, told her that her friend was still alive, though sleeping on her back. Pyrrha knew Ruby slept on her front, and had done so for a long time (information thanks to Yang) so sleeping that way she was now would probably lead her to being soar later on.

Then she looked to Blake, whose look was far better than the red-themed girl in the bed next to her. Her ears... Her cat ears, we twitching. Her facial expression indicated a rousing out of her, her eyes clinched shut repeatedly. It was apparent she was deciding whether or not she should wake up or stay asleep. A common fight with anyone.

The faunus brought her arm to her face and rubbed her eyes, "Uhhg..." She groaned, "What's with all the noise?"

"Guys!" Pyrrha tapped her foot to the floor with a resounding _smack_, gaining the attention of her team. They all looked to Blake who had barely opened her eyes.

"Blake's up!" Nora cheered loudly, much to Blake's annoyance. The hammer-wielder was met with a wave of 'shushes', causing her to fall back into her chair.

"Well, I guess I _am_ up, then..." The black haired girl tried to sit up. To her failure, however, she could not. Pyrrha put a sympathetic hand on her friends shoulder and shook her head. "So, who else is up?"

"Just you." Jaune said, sitting back, "Weiss and Yang haven't moved really, I don't think. You and Ruby have been the most... What's the word?"

"Animated?" Ren said, more than asked.

"Yeah!"

"Alright... Do I even have a book, or something?" Blake asked, tiredly, "Something to keep me occupied?"

"Eh... No." Nora replied, "But I can go get you one from your dorm!"

Just as the energetic girl jumped up to leave, Pyrrha made a realization. "Nora, no!" The orange haired girl stopped in her tracks and stared at the gladiator. After a moment, she realized why Pyrrha had stopped her. "You, uh... You shouldn't enter their dorm! You don't have permission!" Pyrrha thought that was a pretty good cover. Nora clearly forgot about the elaborate traps they had set. "How about we find something from the library?"

Blake looked at the two quizzically, trying to figure out if this was actually real. 'These two are acting very strange...' She thought, 'What... Ah, never mind...' "Uh, I dunno, something, _anything_ will do. I don't know how long it'll be until Ruby wakes up." Pyrrha and Nora left, knowing what their friend was looking for. As they left before the door closed, she could hear them start to argue about something. All she could make out was 'How could you have forgotten-?" There was more, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it.

They all sat in silence; Jaune, Ren (who was _still_ meditating) and Blake, who was in and out of consciousness. She wanted to go back to sleep, but she wanted to stay awake in case someone else woke up. But _damn if it was too quiet!_ Normally she would enjoy that but she _actually wanted to stay awake!_

She didn't have to wait long, thankfully. The duo had found something as quickly as possible, charging in with a single book in hand. "We found one!" Pyrrha said, clearly out of breath. Their entrance did the job, though, and woke Blake up even more. "Here you go!" The gladiator handed the tome to her friend, who nodded in thanks.

"Uhg!" A groan of disgust was heard. Or maybe one of annoyance. "What is with all the noise?!" All eyes turned to the second bed, only to find its occupant, Ruby, rolling in her bed to face away from the group, covering her face with her sheets.

"Well, you woke two of them up." Ren piped, finally breaking from his meditation. "And I don't think either of them are happy about it."

"You think?" Jaune added.

"Like you're helping?" Ruby finally mustered, curling up tighter, finally working her sheets to covering her entire body. "I'm just laying here sleeping and I get all of you yelling as a wakeup call!"

"I don't think I've ever seen this side of you before, Ruby..." Blake said in disbelief, "Normally you're the cheery one."

Ruby rolled over and faced her teammate, "You have now borne witness to the worst kind of me..." She said cryptically, "The tired, heavily medicated me..." She got a response out of the group, causing a wave of chuckles. "When did you wake up, Blake?"

"A few minutes ago. Same way you did." The two looked at their friends, who all got the memo right quick.

"I, uh... I think we should go..." Jaune said, slowly moving towards the door. His team followed in unison and made their quick exit, leaving the reaper and the faunus.

"So," Ruby started, "That was fun."

Blake lightly laughed, "Yeah, depending on how you want to define 'fun'." The two had a laugh over the events that had just transpired, both of them trying to figure out if what just happened actually happened.

As Ruby divulged earlier, she was still heavily affected by the meds she had received. Blake understood and stopped the young leader from keeping herself awake. It wouldn't be long until Blake would join her either, as Pyrrha and Nora decided to pick up a rather uninteresting book on _dogs_.

She shuddered at the thought. It had to be a sick joke, right? They knew she was a faunus, a _cat faunus_, so why did they get a book about freaking _dogs?!_ 'They must not have been paying attention...' She thought.

Blake threw the book aside and laid back. She peered at her leader and the rest of her team, all were still slumbering. It was at this point where she realized that it was raining. It didn't bother her, though. It might even help her get back to sleep.

She heard a click from the door, and watched the knob turn. As the door crept open, she could barely make out Professor Goodwitch's signature hair. The mage peered into the room and locked onto Blake's amber eyes. The black haired girl put a single finger to her mouth, silently making a 'shush'. After realizing that the leader had fallen back into slumber, the instructor nodded to the faunus and closed the door. In a single, wordless glance, Blake realized that she just bought herself and her leader a few more hours of sleep.

'Use it well...'

* * *

She was cold...

Every breath she took turned to fog before her face...

Yang walked on, the world around her still dark; the only light seemed to her illuminating a very short diameter. She kept rubbing her arms against her shoulders, trying to produce heat from the friction. To no avail, however.

She kept walking on, not knowing where she was going. Not really caring where she was going. Trying to find the end of... Whatever this place was...

"Is this purgatory?" Yang thought out loud, "Am I really dead?" No response. She dropped to her knees, finally giving in, "What did I do? What can I do? How can I make up for what I've done, give me a sign!" She yelled to the heavens, though she wasn't sure if they could hear her.

"Did I not love Ruby enough? Did I make someone angry with me? Did I forget to do something, or owe someo-" She stopped in her tracks, remembering her teammate. "... Weiss..." She breathed, "I forgot about her, didn't I? Oh, she probably thinks I hate her! I can't go yet, please, anyone up there! Summer... Mom, anyone, give me a second chance, I'm not done here yet!"

A bright light shone in front of her, gaining her attention. She covered her eyes from the blinding light with her arm, after a moment, the light dimmed to just below blinding. "Aren't I not supposed to go towards the light?" She joked.

"You aren't dead yet..." A voice called. Yang looked around, trying to find the owner of the strangely familiar voice, but saw no one in the darkness around her, "...You are just resting. It has been two days since you entered this state; a state of deep rest." Yang thought hard, trying to figure out who owned that voice. She could put a face to it... But she just couldn't figure out a name.

"Where are you?" She called. A gust of wind blew behind her. The brawler turned, taking a fighting stance, only to find... "Professor Goodwitch?"

"Hello Miss Xiao Long," The older women greeted, "Fancy meeting you here,"

"H-how- Where... Wha-... What's going on?!" Confusion filling Yang's voice as well as her mind. Goodwitch chuckled as she approached her student.

"I'm sure you have a few questions, so I'll get right to the chase. You, miss Xiao Long, expended _all_ of your Aura. There wasn't a drop left in the tank."

"I don't think I've ever heard that analogy from you..."

"Enjoy it while it lasts." The mage smirked, "Anyway, I'll start with how: I know of a few spells that allow me to visit the dream of a student who is either deep in sleep, or who is hypnotized."

"Neat."

"Indeed. This is actually very, very, difficult and requires a lot of concentration. So I need to make this count." She folded her arms and continued her previous explanation, "Yang you saved your team. They all go out alive, as well as you, but because you spent too much Aura, you-"

"Went into a coma." Yang finished, to Goodwitch's annoyance.

"You know this would be a lot easier without the interruptions, I actually rehearsed this as a solo act." Her left eyebrow twitched as she chided the brawler.

"Sorry."

"_Anyway_, you wound up in an Aura-fatigued coma. The doctors have been doing Aura therapy on you over the last two days. Your body has recovered quite well, actually. Much better than the doctors anticipated in such a short amount of time."

"Alright, Professor, enough about me, tell me about my team."

Glynda sighed, "Oh, fine. Your leader and your partner were the first two awake, though they didn't wake up on good terms. I caught them later at night. Weiss woke-"

"Wait, wait, wait... Caught them doing what?" Yang interrupted. Glynda kept a blank stare on the brawler, not understanding what she said, "You said you caught them later at night... Doing what?"

"Uh... They woke up fully later at night and I caught them awake. They were talking... That's it." She said flatly. "Why are you-"

"Nope, no reason!" Yang blushed. Glynda realized what she implied, but chose not to pursue it.

"Alright, anyway. Miss Schnee woke up earlier this morning, the wound her abdomen fully healed. Before you ask, we concluded it was her safety harness that caused the bruising. We don't know why it didn't heal earlier. She is the only one of your conscious members who isn't mobile. Miss Rose and Belladonna are both able to move."

Yang sighed in relief. Her team was safe and they were getting better, too. That was a win for her. "Now, we're back to you." Glynda clapped, "You are going to have to wait a while longer, I'm afraid. Your body still hasn't fully recovered. Luckily, you gained enough Aura that you no longer need the therapy, but your body still needs more time."

"So I can recover Aura on my own?" Yang asked, to which the older blonde before her nodded. "So... If I can recover on my own, how long should it take? I'm, uh... It's kinda boring in here..."

Yang's rather sheepish behavior didn't surprise the Professor at all. An experience like this had a tendency to test the mind. "It should take about a day. So to you, that'll feel like an hour, maybe two. Just don't think about it too much and you'll be fine."

"O-oh, alright. What are you going to do?"

"Miss Xiao Long, I'm going to leave before the spell wears off. I'll be around when you wake up, alright?" Yang nodded in agreement, "Alright. We'll be seeing you."

"Thanks professor..." With a wave, Glynda Goodwitch left, the bright light fading. Yang once again found herself in the dark. Though this time, it wasn't as cold.

* * *

Professor Goodwitch stood up, her meditation over. She peered over to the conscious members of RWBY, all of whom were sitting on Weiss' bed, watching everything unfold. "Well?" Ruby piped after an unbearable silence, "How is she?"

Glynda sighed, regaining her composure. A spell like that is very difficult, no matter how deep in sleep the party is. "She's aware. She knows where she's at and what's happening, and I think she can feel her own strength returning. She knows you all are ok, so she should sleep better."

The team took a collective sigh of relief. Blake took a breath and spoke first, "So how long do you think it'll be until she wakes up?"

"In a few hours. For now, I would enjoy the quiet you have left." The professor chuckled as she exited the room, leaving the team behind.

"So..." Ruby began, "How long do you think a few hours will be?" Her teammates shrugged, "Yeah... Me neither."

"Um, as much as I like you two... Could you get off of my bed now!?" Weiss cried, causing her leader and friend to jump. Ruby decided to lean against her slumber sisters' bed, whilst Blake stayed standing. Weiss stayed seated in her bed and stared at Blake. "If you're going to stand you might as well lean against my bed." Blake quickly accepted the offer and took a spot next to Weiss.

"So..." Blake said, rubbing her cat ears. The nurses were kind enough to give her bow back, which made her less self-conscious.

"Yup..." Weiss whispered. Despite the ordeal that they had just been through not two days prior, the team still had to find ways to make small talk turn into conversation. The monochrome duo were avoiding eye contact, not only with each other but with their leader. Ruby watched the two practically squirm in their seats. It wasn't that awkward, was it?

The red-clad girl began to laugh at her teammates, gaining the attention of both. "What's so funny?" Weiss yelled more than asked.

"You two! Isn't it obvious!" Their leader clapped, "You're so awkward together, still!" Weiss gave the younger girl an annoyed look, up until she realized that her faunus friend to her left was laughing too. Weiss shook her head, pinched the bridge of her nose and gave in. She too broke down with the rest of her team.

It took a few minutes for the team to regain their composure, each one laughing when the other stops. "I needed that..." Blake said, wiping a tear from her eyes, "I don't know why that was so funny, but it was."

"We need more random moments like this." Weiss and Blake agreed to their leaders suggestion. "That was fun."

Silence returned to the room, and each one of them hated it. There was just nothing to talk about until Yang woke up. "What do you think Professor Goodwitch saw?" Ruby asked, staring at her older sister's resting form.

Blake and Weiss looked to each other and shrugged, the question catching both of them off guard. "Whatever it was..." Blake started, "I hope it wasn't bad."

"Maybe she jumped into a dream?" The heiress suggested, "She didn't tell us because we don't really wanna know about those. Let's face it."

Ruby giggled, "No, you don't wanna know her dreams." Her two teammates stared at her for a moment, "They can be dirty... Very dirty..."

"Oddly enough, I'm not surprised." Blake chuckled. The brawler always had a... Different mindset. Sillier, more vulgar, more... PG-thirteen. How Ruby found out about that is not something the faunus would like to know...

"So," Ruby began a new subject, "I have to be honest with you two, and I know you're not going to like what I have to say, but-"

"You think we need weapon upgrades?" Weiss interrupted.

"That, or strategy updates." The two were stunned, they were sure their leader would go for weapons over anything. "Let's face it, we were good, but clearly not good enough."

"Well... Blake sat, rubbing her chin, "You also have to remember we had almost no ammo from the start. Generally, I'd agree after something like that happened, but _only_ if it was a mission, and not a crash-landing survival trip."

Ruby pondered this as Weiss began to discuss her point. Blake stayed in the conversation, but something caught her eye . There was slight movement in Yang's bed. Her eyes clenched as her head moved slightly. This caught Blake's attention, but not Weiss' and certainly not Ruby's. Lilac eyes opened slightly as Yang peered around the room. Blake had stayed quiet and played dumb about the whole thing, not wanting to break the conversation her teammates were having, also not trying to draw attention to the blonde. She _may_ want to go back to sleep, after all.

Yang finally looked at Blake, who met her freshly-awakened partners' eyes. Yang turned to Ruby, sinister smile grew to her face. 'Oh boy...' Blake thought, 'Ten seconds awake and already she has an idea... At least we know she's ok.' Weiss had also noticed Yang's awakening and almost blew her teammate's cover. The only thing that stopped her was a single finger pressed against Yang's lips. It was her own, silently telling both girls to be quiet. The two silently agreed.

Slowly, Yang raised her left arm to reach around her sister, who was facing away from her. Her partner and teammate were interested to see what the brawler was going to do, but tried their best not to announce her consciousness to their leader.

Slowly, Yang's arm lifted as she snaked her way into position. Ruby had passed the torch of the conversation to Weiss, who immediately passed it back with a quick retort. Yang was ready and in position...

a grip around her abdomen, pulling her back. It didn't take her very long to realize what was happening as a second arm wrapped around her. "Blake!" Ruby cried, "Help!"

The faunus jumped in, grabbing Ruby's right arm, which had broken free before Yang could grab it. Blake tried to pull her leader free, only to be yanked into the fray when Yang pulled her sisters arm back.

Blake landed on top of Ruby, the two facing each other. The close proximity caused the two to blush as they cried for help. "Weiss!" Blake laughed, "Help us out!"

The heiress sat back and pondered her options. She could: Help and be pulled in, or give in and jump right in. 'What would be the best plan of action...?' she thought long and hard, relishing in her teammates dismay. Watching her partner and teammate squirm as they tried to break free was a funny sight. "Eh, why not?" She shrugged, making up her mind. "Banzai!"

Weiss jumped in, managing to leap over her two teammates, but still getting caught in Yang's embrace. The brawler pulled all three onto the bed with her and began a practical death hug. "Yang!" Ruby cried, "You're killing us!"

"I survived a Bullhead crash and a murderous swamp!" Weiss complained, but in a joking tone, "I don't wanna die like this!"

"Oh, you're all no fun." Was all Yang said as she continued the embrace. "I heard you all woke up and started a party without me?"

"We _were_," Blake grunted, "But _you_ had to ruin the party."

Yang rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, nice part you got here," She said sarcastically, "Did Ruby set this up?"

"Hey!" Their leader whined. Much to the reapers annoyance, her team got a bit of a kick out of the joke. She decided to accept her fate and not argue the comment; instead she chose to remember it for a later date.

As the team still struggled to break free from the blondes near titanic hold (which was surprising to say the least, considering she just came out of an Aura-fatigue-caused coma), the door opened up, revealing the figure of a certain blonde instructor.

Glynda Goodwitch walked into the room after hearing a commotion from outside. She walked in to find a rather... Interesting sight. The lack of context that accompanied the instructor into the room made this event before her all the more interesting. "Um..." She closed the door with a resounding slam, bringing attention to herself.

"Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby choked for air, reaching out for help from the mage, who smiled at the sight.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rose but it appears that you have everything under control here." She chuckled while opening her scroll. She began to type a message to Ozpin amid a wave of cries from the team, aside for one voice; a hardy laugh, easily Yang's.

"Professor, please?" Weiss begged, "She's choking us!"

Goodwitch sighed and raised her crop. A purple glow formed around the pile. Yang felt her muscles relax as they were enveloped by the mages magic, her team being effortlessly raised away from her. Glynda glided her crop to the right, in between Yang and Weiss' bed, and simply dropped the team with a thud.

"Ow!" Ruby cried, feeling the full weight of her partner and teammate on top of her. She was at the bottom of the pile since the beginning, and things just didn't get easier for her. Weiss, being pretty much on the outer edge of the group, found ease in getting up, whilst Blake found herself right on top of her red-themed leader. She opened her eyes, meeting silver and blushed once again. This time, though, Weiss _nor_ Goodwitch missed it. Blake scrambled to her feet while Ruby tried to figure out _what was actually happening._

Weiss offered a hand to her partner, who gladly accepted. As Ruby rose off the ground, she rubbed the back of her head, "Couldn't have let us down lightly?" She grumbled. Her instructor simply shrugged as the team rearranged themselves. Yang finally sitting up in her bed with a groan.

"So, is it tomorrow yet?" Yang's team looked to her with curiosity, not knowing what she was asking. Goodwitch, on the other hand...

"No, actually Miss Xiao Long. You woke up a whole day early. Your doctors will be elated to hear that." Yang nodded with an impressed expression. Moreover, she was impressed with herself, but that was pretty much normal. "I've contacted Professor Ozpin; he should be here to give you all a final debrief from your last mission." The team nodded and got comfortable, as they weren't sure how long it would take their Headmaster.

Luckily, it didn't take long for him to arrive to the teams infirmary room. He walked into the room after knocking on the door a few times. Glynda gave the 'ok' call as the headmaster entered. He greeted the team centered around a certain blonde, who was currently sitting upright on her bed.

"Hello Team RWBY," He said, pulling out his scroll, "I see you've all awoken. Sleep well?" The unanimous groan from the group before him indicated that no, they did not sleep well. Ozpin chuckled, "I don't blame you. I'll make this as brief as possible, and then I'll let your doctors take care of you.. I am aware that Teams JNPR and CFVY told you all about why your Bullhead crashed?"

"We know a few details," Ruby answered, "They told us as much as they could remember."

"I see. Miss Xiao Long? Would you be interested in this story?"

Yang sat back and thought for a moment. "Nah, if it's important, someone will tell me." She decided. Ozpin found humor in her comment, but shook his head regardless.

"Alright then." Ozpin continued, "You all managed to evade serious injury, despite the condition you were formerly in. I want to congratulate you all and commend you for your effort, bravery and teamwork during that terrible ordeal. Likewise, I would like to commend you on fighting off such an adversary like the Crokolisk Grimm, as they are truly beasts of horror.

The massive Grimm you defeated, Miss Xiao Long, is... Sorry, _was_ referred to as a King Crok, according to Professor Port. At first, we thought it was an elder, but he told us differently."

"Wow..." Yang looked away, stunned, "Professor Port said something that _wasn't_ him on an ego trip?" The team, even Goodwitch and Ozpin, laughed at the comment.

"Now, now, Miss Xiao Long," The headmaster called order, "You best hope that he doesn't hear about that little comment of yours. You never know what he might do." He continued, "Now. Considering your ordeal two days ago, the instructors and myself offered you all a week off of classes to recover. It starts on Monday, which, if I must remind you, is tomorrow."

"I have a question!" Ruby's hand rose, "What did Velvet shoot at Yang? I didn't get a good look at what happened..."

"Quite alright, Miss Rose." Ozpin cleared his throat, "Miss Scarletina blasted Miss Xiao Long with the remainder of her fire dust." He explained, "Yang absorbed the dust, giving her the power for one supercharged attack, which she used very well." Yang bowed her head in appreciation. "Any other questions?"

The team collectively shook their heads. CFVY and JNPR had given their bed-ridden friends a run down on everything from the debrief from earlier, per Ozpin's request. That made this meeting much more easier and much less time consuming. "Very well, ladies. I will turn you over to you doctors now."

With that, Ozpin left the room. Goodwitch bowed and did the same after the doctors and nurses entered for one more check-up with their patients.

* * *

The doctors gave the team the 'ok' to return to their dorm the next day, once Yang had adequate rest. The team refused to leave her side, however, stating that they should all return together.

The nursing staff returned the teams clothes. They had been dressed in special attire the infirmary gave patients that were there for more than one night, rather than the traditional gowns. It made many students more comfortable, as the gowns, admittedly, had a draft and didn't hide much when laying down. The infirmary's attire was just made from the same content as the scrubs were, but were designed differently to identify them as patients rather than staff.

As the sun rose the next day, the team awoke early, wanting to get back to their dorm as fast as possible. They all got dressed behind their respective divider curtains, save for Yang, who was still pretty sore. Ruby came in to help her sister get dressed. "You know," The younger sibling said quietly as Yang put on her coat, "Weiss is still really beat up about earlier." Silver eyes tried to match lilac, but Yang chose to look away. "Blake told me how apologetic you were about this whole thing, she said she could see it in your eyes. Just, please apologize before we get home. Please?"

Yang looked up, finally, and saw the pleading look her sister was giving her. Yet under those pleading eyes was a leader about to give an order. Ruby had this look to her that made her sound so sincere, but be so serious as a leader at the same time. "Alright," The blonde nodded, "I'll apologize."

Ruby nodded as the two walked out from behind the curtain, finding their respective partners to be waiting. "Weiss, Blake," Ruby called, "Can you two help Yang get back to the dorm? She's still limping a little. I'll get all of the doors for you." The two agreed and took a side, wrapping Yang's arm around their shoulders.

Team JNPR met RWBY as they exited, saying they would 'escort' the team to their dorm. Weiss and Blake helped Yang walk on whilst Ruby led the way. It was a fairly short walk from the infirmary to the dorms (Oh, wonder why?).

As they walked through the quad, Yang looked over to a very tense Weiss. 'Ruby was right?' Yang thought. She knew exactly what she had to do...

"Weiss?" The heiress peered up at the blonde, "I'm sorry... About everything. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did, and I'm sorry if you thought I didn't like you..."

Weiss was clearly caught off guard by the apology, "Oh, uh... Thanks, Yang... Th- that means a lot..." The blonde smiled at the reply. "Really, it does."

Weiss eased up after that. Blake had pretended she didn't hear any of that, as it wasn't her place to speak. 'Good job, Yang...' She thought, 'Ruby will be very happy for that.'

The two teams walked all the way up to their floor, which took a while considering Yang had to take every step with both of her feet. It honestly felt like a longer period of time past getting up the stairs, than it did getting to the dorm building.

Once they got to their floor, however, they were home free. Team RWBY gave JNPR their thanks for walking home with them. Jaune waved them off as the rest of the entered their dorm, keeping the door open for their leader. Ruby went to unlock the door.

With a click, the door opened. However, a second click was heard. Before Ruby could react, a force tackled her to the ground as a powdery explosion erupted from their dorm. Ruby opened her eyes to see black hair in front. Peering up she could barely make out Blake's face. "Fancy meeting you here..." The faunus chuckled nervously.

"Twice, eh?" Ruby and Blake stood up and looked behind them. More students had exited their dorms to see what the commotion was. Yang and Weiss were blown back, both sitting wide-eyed as the powdery substance made its way downward. All for looked over to JNPR's door, finding Jaune completely covered in... Whatever this stuff was, still holding his arm up for a wave. His team had swiftly closed the door to avoid taking a hit too. Pyrrha opened it up, peeking outside.

"Oh... Oh, uh..." She stuttered, "Whoops... Surprise?"

"Yay!" Nora cheered, "It didn't work!"

Yang stood up and examined the powder. "It's flour..." She said simply... "Very messy, very easy to make, very amateurish..." She shook her head, "What's worse, your prank failed to hit the mark. And now we know what you tried to do..." A sinister smile grew on her face, "You started a war, you know..." It was a fact, rather than a question.

Blake helped Ruby to her feet as they eyed their would-be pranksters. Both of them shook their heads as well as Weiss. "We'll get you all." Ruby said cryptically, "Another day, though. I'm tired."

Her team agreed as they all walked into their powder-filled dorm. "When you least expect it..." Weiss said, grabbing the doorknob, "Is when we strike." The door closed, leaving a stunned hallway and a terrified JNPR.

Inside RWBY's dorm, the team looked absolutely heartbroken. JNPR's 'prank' had resulted in flour getting _everywhere_. "It'll take hours to clean this up..." Weiss sighed. As she did, a knock was heard at their door. Blake answered, finding Pyrrha.

"We, uh... Now we feel bad..." She admitted. "You guys go sit in our dorm while we cleanup..."

The team shrugged and accepted, rather quickly. They entered their sister teams' dorm room, finding the decor to be much more... Spacious, in a way.

"So..." Yang said as Weiss closed the door. The blonde turned to look at Ruby and Blake, who had curious, yet fearful expressions on their faces, "Wanna explain something to me?"

"Oh..." Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head. The leader knew exactly what her sister was going to get at. She looked to Blake, who shrugged. "So... Here's what's up..."

* * *

**Ah, ladybug hints. So nice.**

**I want to give a big thanks to my collab partner Karmahhhhh who took time out of his last two days to help me out with this, as I was having trouble with some filler points. **

**And with this chapter marks the end of Downed. It was a hell of a ride and it actually went for a lot longer than I thought, and hoped. I didn't want to have been finishing this story in the middle of August, but I guess that's the way the world works, eh?**

**This ending will also mark the return of Amnesia, which is now in the works once again! Expect that soon... Hopefully.**

**Finally, I want to give a big thanks to all of you who read this story. You were patient with me the whole way, gave me critiques when I asked and told me how it was, never imposing your ideas onto me. You all kept me motivated to make more and more and I thank you dearly. **

**I hope this ending lived up to your expectations, as did the rest of the story. I know I'm not exactly the best writer but it means a lot to me that you all stood with me. Your patience and understanding was, is and always will be greatly appreciated. **

**I hoped you all enjoyed. One last time for this story, this is DemonoftheRoundTable, signing off.**

**Until Next Time.**


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